Of Monsters & Men
by Genevieve Kelly
Summary: Co-written with my friend, Mrs. Hook-Jones-O'Donoghue. Begins two weeks after season six ends, as Killian and Emma finally have a honeymoon. While Killian's been to New York City twice before, he's never been able to see the beauty of the world Emma grew up in. So they sail to New York on the Jolly Roger in hope of doing so. But a monster arises unlike they've ever faced before.
1. Chapter 1

Of Monsters & Men

Chapter One

At long last, the final battle for the Savior had been fought and won thanks to the great sacrifice she made for her loved ones. All who lived within Storybrooke, both hero and villain alike, had gotten their happy endings as Emma had promised them she would fight for. Granny happily continued to run her diner. Dopey had returned from school and the seven dwarfs continued to work the mines, then enjoyed spending their nights drinking and celebrating their new beginnings. Even Grumpy. August worked with his father in Marco's Garage, while they both did woodcarvings for themselves and the new shop he had opened within town to sell their work. Blue recovered from the Black Fairy's torment and continued to work within the convent with the rest of the fairies, while gratefully remaining Gideon's Godmother. And Archie remained the town's psychiatrist, as he fortunately continued to help anyone who came to him with troubles and worries.

Henry continued to go to school with Violet and their relationship had begun to grow stronger than ever before without the worry of villains arising to harm his family hanging over him. Regina was no longer just the town Mayor as she had been off and on through the years since Storybrooke was first created. She was once again Queen and one whom everyone revered and respected.

Mr. Gold had finally given up choosing darkness and power over his family despite still being the Dark One. Now he lived for his wife and their son, who had been given the gift of a new life after having been restored to the child newly born as a reward for Emma's sacrifice and his parents' love. And Belle happily remained the town's librarian and scholar.

Snow White and Prince Charming bought themselves a new home on a farm and were finally free to live happily as they raised their son, Neal, without the fear of losing him as they had lost Emma the day she was born thirty-two years earlier. David was able to retire from being sheriff with his daughter so he could return to being a farmer. And Snow continued teaching her friends' children of all ages.

As for Emma and Killian, the newly and happily married couple were finally rewarded with the life they always wanted together from the moment they had fallen in love. For the pirate and former villain, he loved Emma since they shared their first kiss in Neverland. And for the heroine, though it took longer for her to realize she loved him too, she truly accepted she did love Killian when he revealed she was his happy ending nearly two years after they met. It was the first time he had ever told her he loved her, but she knew he had for much longer.

Now, Killian had taken over being sheriff alongside his wife for David so that his friend and father-in-law could enjoy the life he truly wanted with Snow and their young Prince. Emma loved having her husband work so closely with her, but their honeymoon had been stolen from them the eve of their wedding when the Black Fairy's curse struck and tried to pull them apart for the Savior's final battle. So after two weeks of working normal hours at the station with only few incidents here and there that required the town sheriffs' services, Emma suggested they leave Storybrooke for awhile on the Jolly Roger and Killian readily agreed. David was only too happy to come back on as acting sheriff for as long as they were gone.

Late one afternoon, Emma was completing the tasks Killian had assigned her to help him set sail while he completed his own duties, then took his place behind the ship's wheel. It still amazed her to watch him tie off the sails and work the riggings despite only having use of one hand even if he did have two hundred years of experience.

Once she finished, the woman who loved the old pirate raised her head to look up at him while he concentrated on steering out into the deep blue waters of the ocean, until he felt her eyes on him. He smiled down at her and Emma walked up onto the upper deck so she could take her place at his side, then leaned in to kiss him.

After a few minutes, she pulled back and smiled lovingly at him while she spoke up saying, "I'm really happy we're finally leaving on our honeymoon that we should have been free to take the night we were married."

Killian held his wife close while he continued to steer the wheel as he teased, "This is indeed much better than the separated ones granted to us by the Black Fairy. You don't have any regrets or worries about leaving Storybrooke, or more importantly your family, do you?"

"Not at all," Emma responded sincerely. "I might have before when we were still battling villains and worrying about the fate looming over my head. Not because I haven't wanted this for so long, but I would have feared the ones we love might have been attacked while we were gone. But I'm not concerned about that now. And even if someone did, they can handle the dangers just fine without me. I just want to be here with you, my husband."

"And I you, my wife," he answered sweetly, then looked out at the waves surrounding them. "So, you've yet to tell me where it is we're headed. Surely you don't wish to remain out of the wide open ocean for the full three weeks. I've lived on the waters for long periods of time my whole life. For years at a time in fact. You haven't."

She shook her head as she replied, "Actually, I'm not sure. I guess I figured we would sail until we came across some far off land, or an island that isn't inhabited by a demon child and dark magic."

Killian chortled and then responded, "If you wouldn't mind, perhaps we could sail to New York. I would love nothing more than to see your world outside of Storybrooke. You could use your power to cloak the Jolly Roger once we get close so no one will see us pull into the harbor aboard a pirate ship or see it while docked within the harbor. The longest I've seen the non-magical city was only a few days, but I spent them trying to convince you I wasn't a madman stalking you, as well as within a barbaric brig."

"Yeah, I'm not so sure I ever really apologized for having you arrested," Emma said with regret in her voice and in her eyes. "Somehow… even though I had no memory of you, it doesn't feel right that I did that to you."

"You only feel that way because you love me," her husband answered cheekily, then stepped back from the wheel and guided her to the side of the ship so they could look out over the horizon. "Believe me, I don't blame you for seeing me as a madman. People of the world without magic can't believe it's real because what we don't understand is frightening. But despite the memories of that brig, I'd be honored if you would show me all the things about New York you loved so much. You've seen my world and had to endure many atrocities, some of which because of me. I'd love to see yours, to see the beauty that's beyond home. What do you say, Swan?"

Emma nodded, then sincerely replied, "I would love it. There's so much to do and see in New York. We can go sightseeing like any other tourists. We can go to the top of the Empire State Building, visit the Statue of Liberty and memorials where the World Trade Center once stood, we can see a show on Broadway, take a long romantic carriage ride through Central Park…"

He nodded and responded, "Aye, love. It all sounds wonderful, though I'm not certain I know any of what you're talking about other than Central Park. It is after all where I found myself and then you when I first arrived in New York to save you. But we can discuss all of that later if you wish, perhaps over dinner. For now, let's just enjoy the sunset. It's really quite beautiful tonight, though no more beautiful than you are right now as you look lovingly into my eyes."

"You're such a charmer," she answered with a laugh.

"That title is reserved for your father," Killian smugly replied and then leaned in to kiss her once more. "I prefer dashing rapscallion."


	2. Chapter 2

Of Monsters & Men

Chapter Two

Once the sun vanished below the horizon, and Killian made sure the way before them was clear of any obstacles, he and Emma walked below deck to the Captain's quarters to make themselves comfortable for the evening. When they walked in, Emma found her husband had put together a romantic setting. A table was set up with a checkered tablecloth neatly draped over it, and two candles lit the room while soft romantic music played in the background over the gramophone he borrowed from Belle and Gold. Emma wasn't at all surprised by his gesture, as she knew this was the kind of man she had married and she was flattered.

"It looks beautiful, Killian," she whispered and then leaned her head close to his to kiss him. "It's a lot like the setting of our first date, at Tony's Restaurant."

"Aye… that's a bit like I was going for," he replied as he walked over to the table and pulled out the chair for his wife to sit down so he could gently push her into the table, then began to lay out the food she had picked up from Granny's for them before they boarded his ship. "I realize you thought nothing of it, but I wasn't exactly the gentleman I should have been that evening and it wasn't just because of the incident involving that gangling thief. I wanted to make it up to you tonight. So, this is our new first date."

Emma reached across the table as he sat down before her and she laid her hand over his hook, then responded, "You meant well and Gold played on your insecurities. You needn't keep feeling ashamed for missing your hand and thinking of yourself as less of a man for it."

Killian shook his head as he retorted, "I no longer feel that way. I just hoped to make our first date perfect, even if it is a little late."

"It's perfect," his wife stated and then waved her hand over the dinner to freshen and heat it up for them. "I hope you know how happy I am to sail away with you for awhile. If it wasn't for Ursula, you wouldn't have gotten your ship back and none of this would be possible. If it wasn't for me, you never would have lost your ship in the first place. Tell me the rest of your story, Killian."

"What story is that, love?" he asked confusingly.

She swallowed her bite of her salad, then she answered, "I would like to know about how you came back to me in New York, beginning with the bird that flew onto your ship with the message we were in danger and the memory potion."

Killian despondently looked down at his plate as the memory of how low he had been during the year he had been forced apart from the woman he loved and replied, "You already know of what was important. The rest is trivial and nothing, but a long story."

"We have plenty of time," the Savior responded softly, then poured him and herself a glass of wine. "You came back into my life when I needed you most, Killian. Even though I couldn't remember you, I somehow missed you despite dating Walsh. I was lonely, so Henry made a wish, although I didn't know it at the time, asking for our family to be complete again and you came back into my life a few days later, then brought me home to our family. There's more to how you came to trading your ship for me and I would love hear it all."

"Well, you know a little of how the story began," her husband answered finally and then thought back to the early morning when a new hope that he would see his Savior again was rekindled. "Your missing year was one of the longest years of my life. And the most difficult without you in it…"

At the end of the year everyone had forgotten…

While the Jolly Roger sailed the waters between realms, Smee took a moment from swabbing the ship's deck to lean against the mop in his hands in rest, then turned his head towards his Captain who stood at the wheel, staring darkly ahead at the surrounding ocean. Hook had been despondent since they'd been torn away from Storybrooke in Pan's curse, but he had grown more distant as the year passed. However, Hook's temperament suddenly changed when a white dove flew down and landed upon the ship's wheel.

Killian looked down at the dove in surprise until he noticed a small blue vial tied to its leg along with a note. He untied the knot to take off the vial, then carefully unrolled the strip of cloth the note was written on to read the message. " _New curse. Everyone returned to Storybrooke. Find Emma. Savior's their only hope._ "

After he finished reading the message he believed had been sent to him from Emma's mother, the bird flew away again and Hook took a few moments to think things through, then without a second thought he called out to his men forcefully, "Drop whatever you're doing, raise the sails, and secure the riggings as fast as possible. We're returning to our last port."

The first mate rushed towards the upper deck and with confusion he replied, "But Captain… we just left and in case you don't recall, there are men we just robbed and are probably looking to kill us."

"I didn't ask for excuses, Mr. Smee," Hook responded brusquely. "I gave you orders and I expect you to obey them. Have I made myself clear?"

"Yes Sir, Captain Sir," the younger man answered nervously. "But Captain… if you don't mind my asking, why the change in direction? Did that bird come to deliver you some kind of message?"

Killian spun the steering wheel as the ship began to change direction, then sternly he replied, "Aye, that it did. We're returning to the tavern we just left. Don't worry about those men we just pillaged. They'll be long gone by now. Take the next few days to enjoy yourselves. The rum is on me."

Smee looked at him again with surprise and responded, "Wow… that must have been some message. Was it good news?"

"I suppose it depends on how you read it," Hook answered strangely, then motioned for his most loyal crewman to get back to work and continued to concentrate solely on his task at hand.

"Don't you find the Captain's sudden change in attitude strange?" one of the other pirates asked Smee suspiciously as he came over to stand beside him.

The man wearing his red knit hat nodded, but instead of expressing his own doubts, the first mate replied, "We follow his orders. He knows what is best."

The crewman shook his head as he responded, "I'm not so sure."

 _"That's quite the vessel you captain there, Swan," Killian heard himself tell the woman he loved as he thought back to what he believed would be the last moment he ever shared with her, ignoring the whispers coming from his crewmen. "There's not a day will go by that I won't think of you."_

 _"Good," the Savior answered sadly while they smiled at one another until she moved on to finish with her goodbyes._


	3. Chapter 3

Of Monsters & Men

Chapter Three

Once they arrived in one of New York's harbors, Killian worked to tie off his ship to the docks while he cautiously observed his surroundings, feeling nervous about leaving the Jolly Roger alone within a strange world even if it was cloaked by his wife's magic, as it once had been by Cora's when he first arrived in Storybrooke. Despite her assurance it would remain well protected while they were off enjoying their time in the city, he was suspicious by nature, having lived as a pirate for centuries and Killian couldn't help, but worry something might happen.

When he was done, the ship's Captain walked back down into his quarters and pulled on the first jacket he had purchased at home when he stopped wearing his long leather duster to dress more the part, detached his hook from the brace he wore, then used the key he had forged into the bottom end to open his safe so he could pull out his wooden hand.

Emma walked into the room as he was attaching the false hand into place, then placed his hook into the jacket's inside pocket and she spoke up saying, "I didn't think of you having to wear your wooden hand while we're here. I mean, I know that you had to when you came to find me your first time here, but… it's just that it didn't even dawn on me. I'm just so used to your hook. Are you alright?"

He nodded and then answered, "I'm fine, love. I'm used to having to replace my hook with the false hand."

"I don't mean that," she replied as they walked back up on deck to leave once Killian laid his wife's long red jacket over her shoulders and helped her pull it on. "Something's bothering you, isn't it? I can tell. What's wrong?"

"It's really nothing for you to be concerned about," Killian responded quietly. "What's wrong is two hundred years of suspicion and worry that something bad is going to happen, not to mention the worry that a villain could rise up any moment to ruin our happiness. I'm just being a fool."

Emma smiled and then answered, "You're not a fool, Killian. I can't help, but feel the same way. But all of that's behind us now. We've defeated the Black Fairy and won the final battle. Besides, we're in a land without magic, except for the fountain Henry tossed the coin in that brought you back from the Land of Untold Stories of course. Relax, we're going to enjoy three weeks alone together without worrying about someone or something trying to come between our happiness."

He leaned in to kiss her, then replied, "Aye. So, where to first? The night is young."

"What would you say to taking a cab to Central Park so we can take that long, romantic carriage ride?" she readily responded, then reached into her own coat pocket as they stepped off the gangplank to make their way across the docks and handed her husband a new leather wallet instead of just the coin purse he carried on his belt. "I almost forgot… I took out cash for you to use, as well as had a credit card made in your name to use while we're here. In Storybrooke, you can still get away with paying for things in doubloons. But people aren't so accepting of old money here. Doubloons haven't existed for a very long time."

"I've seen you use this plastic card once or twice," the pirate answered as he took it out of the wallet in order to examine it. "Thank you, Swan. I didn't think to ask. I'm glad you remembered. But it doesn't feel right that you should have to pay for everything so long as we're here."

Emma smiled as she replied, "You're a sheriff just like I am, so now you earn a paycheck the same as I do. Besides, if you're really that old fashioned, it's not like you don't have plenty of money of your own at home even if they are in the shape of gold coins and jewels. We can worry about all that later. Now come on. It's as you said, the night is young. What do you say we find someplace to eat dinner first and then go for that carriage ride?"

Killian nodded as he lifted his arm for the woman he loved to put her own arm through and then held her close while he responded, "That does sound truly wonderful, love."

Later that evening, the newlywed couple was seeing the beauty of Central Park from a horse drawn carriage after they ate dinner at an elegant Italian restaurant, as the Savior leaned gently against her husband with her head against his chest while he held her in his arms. The ride lasted nearly an hour while neither one of them spoke, as they enjoyed the romance of simply being together.

"Excuse me, mate, but would you mind stopping here?" Killian then asked the driver out of the blue as he gently lifted Emma off of him so that he could move and climb down out of the carriage, then helped his wife down as well. "We'll only be a few minutes."

"Is everything alright?" she asked nervously, while the man she loved pulled her around until they were both facing the carousel now in front of them until she turned her head, looking over at him in confusion. "What is it? You don't really strike me as the kind of person who would want to go on a children's ride for fun."

He laughed, then he answered, "Of course not. When I came through the portal, I had no idea where I would come out, nor did I care. As I jumped into it, all I thought of was you and within seconds after I collapsed to the ground after the portal transported me here, there you were. Right in front of me and yet so far because you didn't remember who I was."

Killian paused a moment as he walked over to an ice cream vendor and asked for two vanilla cones, paid the man a few dollars, then handed one of the cones to Emma while he continued, "You had bought yourself this frozen treat and while you ate it, you paused to watch the carousel and the children on it for minutes before you moved on. You looked so beautiful. I wanted to run to you and act as though everything was just as it was between us before we were separated by Pan's curse, except that I wanted you to care about me more than just as the friends we were even though I knew deep down you still had feelings for Neal, beneath your false memories, and weren't sure of what your heart truly desired. I didn't know about Walsh at that point either. I knew then we were nothing more than friends, but as you opened the door of your apartment when I finally got up the courage to knock, any common sense I had disappeared upon seeing you face to face for the first time after a year and I made a fool of myself. But that's not what this is about. You wanted to know the rest of my story. This place right here, it's a part of it. And seeing you in that moment… seeing you again brought back all hope I had lost the moment the curse ripped us all back to the Enchanted Forest."

"You didn't lose all hope," Emma replied tenderly, raising her hand again to his face to caress his cheek. "Because if you had, you would have ignored the message that told you our family was in trouble, believing it to be a cruel taunt. And you would have gone back to being the villain you used to be. But you didn't, Killian. You made mistakes, but so did I and so did everyone else. You remained the good man you fought so hard to become and you saved me. I should have recognized that the moment my memories returned, but instead I resented you and tried to push you away. Fortunately for me, you refused to leave me. Thank you for never giving up. And thank you for sharing this with me. I love you, Killian."

"And I you, Emma," the Savior's husband responded sincerely, then kissed her for a moment before he helped her back into the carriage so they could move on with the rest of their first night in New York City.


	4. Chapter 4

Of Monsters & Men

Chapter Four

Among the crowded streets outside of the Gershwin Theater, Emma and Killian exited the playhouse when the Broadway show they had gone to see their second night within the big city ended. After looking at their choices, Wicked won out over the rest because of its familiarity even if this phenomenon was significantly different from the real story. Elphaba who was the Wicked Witch within the musical was nothing like Zelena, Storybrooke's own former Wicked Witch. And yet by the end of their stories, they both had become heroes even though she wasn't seen as such in the show by anyone other than her closest friends. The same could be said about Zelena too.

Killian had seen one play way back when he and Liam had just joined the Royal Navy under the command of their first Naval Captain, having escorted their King to the village where it had been performed. And as Captain Hook, he and his band of pirates had crashed a performance or two as well so they could rob the patrons of their riches while they were too distracted by the show in front of them.

"I'll admit, I think Wicked is every bit as wonderful as all the hype about the show raves," Emma said to her husband as they moved against one of the theater's walls to stand, in order to get out of everyone else's way as the rest of the patrons filed out to leave.

"I don't know about any of its hype as you say, but I enjoyed it as well," Killian responded as he turned his head to look over at the woman he loved. "Except… I much prefer our own songs to these. Especially yours, Swan."

She smiled at him as she replied, "Thank you. So do I, because our songs saved us."

"Aye, that they did," he stated in sincerity. "I'm glad I can't remember any of what I sang back when your mother made her wish. Because I'm certain nothing I could have sung was of any worth. I know where our own stories come from, but what about your world's interpretation of them? This show, the stories of Snow White and Prince Charming… of Peter Pan… Why are they so different?"

"Honestly, I don't know," the Savior answered while they slowly began to walk, with nowhere to go in mind. "But for the most part the Disney movies and the multitude of books are fairly accurate. Although yours is by far the most significantly different. Pan was certainly no one's hero, except maybe some of the Lost Boys who remained behind in Neverland. And Neverland is nothing like the island we read about or see in the movies. As for you…"

Killian interrupted, "I was a villain. From what little I've seen of them, your stories got mine right."

Emma shook her head as she responded, "They really didn't. You were a villain, yes. But they failed to give your characters any backstories or reasons for why you were the man you were. Your crocodile wasn't a reptile who followed you around with a ticking clock inside its belly, waiting to eat you. Your crocodile was a very real and dangerous villain who haunted and tormented you for over two hundred years. Who cut off and stole your hand after he murdered your first love. Not to mention the darkness you've fought inside of you since your father abandoned you, Killian. All these stories made you appear the villain simply because a child mocked you. Your story is much better than the rest."

"I liked this Elphaba much better than I like our own Wicked Witch," her husband playfully replied in order to break the seriousness of their conversation. "Or at least I did when Zelena was still wicked. She may have become a hero too, but she's still as much of a thorn now as she always was."

"At least she's on our side," she answered. "It's getting kind of late."

Killian nodded and then looked up to the skies as he responded, "And it appears there's a storm coming. We should probably head back to the Jolly Roger before it comes. I'll go find us a cab to take us back to the harbor."

Emma watched him as he worked his way through the crowds to do as he said he was going to do, but when she couldn't see him anymore, she turned around to move further back against the wall behind her to wait. However, as she spun around, she suddenly bumped into someone and quickly apologized for doing so. Except when they looked at one another, the man she could now see was a New York City cop stared at her strangely until she saw that he believed he knew her from somewhere. While he too looked a little familiar, she didn't recognize him.

He eagerly spoke up with surprise in his voice saying, "Miss. Swan! I can't believe that of all people here in the city, I would run into you again. What a small world. How have you been?"

"I've been fine," she nervously replied, trying to think of where she might have known him from. "I'm sorry, but do we know each other?"

"I didn't think you would remember me," the stranger answered a bit curtly, until he quickly changed his demeanor again to be more sociable so as to not push her away. "I'm Officer Brennan Peters. I'm one of the men you spoke to when you were having trouble with that stalker of yours about a year ago."

It finally dawned on her who this man was and then suddenly realized that he was referring to Killian, as this cop had been one of the officers who had arrested him in the park when her husband had come to try to convince her that her whole life she believed in then was all a lie.

The Savior nodded in recognition, then she responded, "Ah… That's right. I remember you now. I'm sorry. I should have recognized you right away. It's just that it was kind of a rough year for me."

Peters quickly replied, "I can only imagine. Being stalked can be terrifying. Has he given you anymore trouble since we released him? I must say, I'm surprised you dropped the charges against him. It never did sit right with me that we had to let him go. He struck me as someone who was dangerous beyond the average stalker."

"It turns out he wasn't a stalker at all, but someone I cared about very much from my life before I moved here," Emma answered awkwardly, then saw Killian again while he worked his way back through the crowd to get back to her again. "Now he's my husband."

"Your husband?" the cop questioned in shock, just as the man he was talking about walked around him to stand beside his wife, then took her hand in his own while Killian turned his head to glare at the man before them upon recognizing him right away and getting the same sense that something was off about him as he had before. "You married the man who stalked you for days?"

Killian was about to retort until Emma immediately responded, "We fell in love, before he came to New York to find me. I had been in a serious accident and couldn't remember years of my life, including Killian. It took him a long time to find me after I disappeared, but he never gave up on me and he helped me to remember everything I lost. We just got married and we're very happy."

The pirate Captain continued, "I may have gone about trying to remind her of who I was the wrong way, but I wasn't going to lose her again. I apologize for being trouble while I was a prisoner within your jail."

"We need to go, love," he then said as he looked over at his wife again. "I've found us a cab. He'll only wait a few moments."

"I'm ready," she whispered, then turned back to the cop still standing before them. "It was nice to see you again, Officer Peters. Good night."

Brennan watched them walk away disappointedly, then uttered to himself, "Good night."

Once they were sitting in the back seat of the cab, Killian noticed Emma's apprehension and asked, "Are you alright, love?"

"I'm fine," Emma replied. "Really, it's nothing. I just didn't expect to run into one of the cops I had arrest you. But more so, I hated the things he said about you."

"The sheriff… officer, did have every right to be distrusting of me," her husband answered despondently, not wanting to share his concern about the cop to Emma unless he was given a reason to. "I was stalking you. But that's all behind us now. We're together and nothing will tear us apart again."


	5. Chapter 5

Of Monsters & Men

Chapter Five

In the Enchanted Forest…

Upon being given the orders from their Captain to take all the rowboats back to shore where a small port outside of the Enchanted Forest stood, the pirate crew did as they were told out of fear of either walking the plank or being run through, while William Smee was the last of them to leave the Jolly Roger so that he could stay back to talk to the man he considered his friend even if Hook was just his Captain and he himself was only just the first mate.

While a few of the pirates sat within the last of the rowboats as they waited for the man wearing his red knit cap to join them, Smee quickly walked over to Hook as the leader remained standing at the ship's wheel and finally gathered the courage to ask once more, "Sir… Are you certain this is the best course of action? I mean… What's really going on? It's not like you to return to a place we've pillaged until the heat dies down and we're no longer wanted men or being hunted down. The men all suspect something isn't right and frankly, so do I. What was in that note that has you so spooked, Captain? You know you can tell me anything."

Killian lowered his eyes to look down at the one member of his crew who had always remained loyal to him no matter what his decisions were, good or bad, and then he replied sternly, "Mr. Smee, I don't have to explain my actions to you or to anyone. I am giving you permission to enjoy yourselves for however long it will be before I return. And if you wish it, all of you are free men and are released from my services as of now."

"But I don't wish that, Captain," the first mate answered in confusion. "I told you when you first spared my life and made me a part of your crew that I would remain with you until our story comes to an end. And I meant it. Does all of this have to do with Storybrooke… with Emma?"

"I warned you never to utter her name again," Hook angrily responded while he glared at the smaller, fatter man whom he couldn't deny was his friend no matter how he treated him, wrong or not. "I gave you an order to get off my ship and you will do so of your own free will along with the others, unless you want me to make you walk off it from the plank."

Smee nodded dejectedly and then he replied, "Fine. I'll go. But Captain Sir… Before you go, I want you to know that I hope you find whatever it is you're looking for. Just please don't abandon us."

The leader of his band of pirates softened, then sighed and spoke again saying, "Mr. Smee, do you not tire of living this kind of life? Have you not lived long enough?"

"If it's possible, I'd like to live forever, Captain," the younger man answered honestly. "We may not ever return to Neverland again, but I hope to be able to find another way for us to have eternal life and with all the magic in this world… Surely there's something out there. I hoped to be able to find it, with you. You used to want the same thing. Is that not what you want anymore?"

"What I want is something I will never have, but that doesn't mean I will allow others to suffer if I can help it," Killian responded despondently. "I do hope to see you again, Mr. Smee. I have a pretty good feeling that it won't be long before I do. So… until then, good luck. Now go. Farewell."

His first mate nodded despite his confusion over what his Captain had just said to him and climbed down into the boat below him, then looked back up at the leader as Hook came over to the ship's side to watch as the last of his men rowed off to the shore while Smee called out to him, "Good luck, Captain Sir!"

Killian stood there for only a few minutes before he rushed over to the main mast, adjusted the sails, and then returned to the wheel in order to leave the Enchanted Forest behind before the curse he knew was coming would sweep him up along with the crew he had just abandoned so that he could find the woman he loved even if she didn't love him in return. Once he was clear of the curse's reach, he would have one more stop to make and it was the part of his rash plan he looked forward to the least.

Nearly two hours passed while Hook sailed in silence towards another port outside of the Enchanted Forest, a place he hoped would remain untouched by the curse coming by whoever it was who had cast it and once again put Emma's family and friends in danger. This port was unpleasant as it was often frequented by the worst of pirates, thieves, bandits, and criminals, etc.… Killian knew about it because he used to frequent it often himself per Pan's orders to trade goods, as well as to perform other tasks and services. The truth was, he hoped never to come back to this port ever again. Unfortunately, it was where Killian knew he would find the one person, an old enemy, he needed to see so that he could find his way back to Emma.

Finally, upon hearing the sounds of soft rumbling coming up from behind him, Killian turned his head to look back and saw a dark, ominous cloud made of thunder and lightning looming towards him far off in the distance. It wouldn't be long before the cloud swept him up within it along with everyone and everything else, unless he could outrun it. It was why he had left his crew behind, so as to rid his ship of its extra weight. But he was the Captain of the Jolly Roger and thankfully he knew every inch of his ship, including exactly what he needed to do in order to make her go as fast as she was able. The pirate Captain quickly turned away from the wheel and grabbed hold of one of the ropes from the masts he had tied off to the upper deck and cut it loose using his hook, then swung down to the lower deck to readjust the sails again, to set them directly against the winds so they would push the ship onward at full speed.

His undertaking wasn't easy by any means without having the help from his men, especially with being one-handed. But Killian was used to the hard work aboard the Jolly Roger and even loved it at times, while he allowed the crew to enjoy an evening here and there at the ports they've come upon so he could be alone. Only now he was all alone and an unknown danger was creeping up behind him, threatening to take away the only chance he had to find Emma again so that he could restore her lost memories. Though his mind was preoccupied by the daunting tasks at hand, he was struggling with doing as was needed, as he was afraid to fail more than ever before. Not only was Emma depending on him to save her even if she didn't know it yet, but so were her family and friends. Someone sent him the bird with the message warning him of the danger coming and the memory potion. Someone he believed was Snow White, though he wasn't certain. They trusted he would do the right thing and he couldn't let them down again after he had abandoned them upon their return to the Enchanted Forest.


	6. Chapter 6

Of Monsters & Men

Chapter Six

Present day…

Over the course of the next few days, Emma and Killian explored throughout the city while they visited several of the popular tourist locations such as other aspects of Central Park including the Belvedere Castle and the zoo, the Statue of Liberty, the 9/11 Memorial and Museum, Times Square, the Hard Rock Café, the Met, and the Natural History Museum. The newlywed couple took their time to see it all as they walked practically everywhere unless it became too late, in which case they took a taxi back to the harbor where they spent most of their evenings aboard the Jolly Roger. Finally, they walked to the Empire State Building and while Killian had caught a glimpse of the structure his first time in New York City, the skyscraper hardly amazed him as his mind was on more important matters.

Killian was truly enjoying seeing the strange world to him, especially because he knew this city held a special place in his wife's heart even if her life within it was based on years of lies created by a dark curse and the Queen's magic. Despite being lonely and being betrayed by a man she thought she had loved until he turned out to be one of Zelena's flying monkeys, the one year she spent in New York with her son was mostly a good one.

Unfortunately, there was a nagging suspicion in the back of Killian's mind that he couldn't quite figure out. He felt as though they were being watched, but every time the feeling arose to the forefront of his thoughts and he looked around them for any sign of dangers lurking about, there was nothing there. So, Killian simply shrugged off his worries, believing himself to have become nothing more than paranoid after all they've been through over the years. He never once mentioned his concern to Emma, not wanting to worry her at all, especially if there was nothing really out there.

"The Enchanted Forest has nothing even close to this height," Killian said with astonishment as he stared up towards the top of the Empire State Building, using his false hand to shield his eyes from the sun. "I will admit, your world's technology and machinery used to build structures such as this do have their good qualities too. This building, along with all the rest we've seen really are quite something, Swan. I just wish your talking phones and those magic boxes that I believe Belle once had called, the internet… were easier to operate."

"I love that our technology still confuses you," Emma answered softly, yet playfully and then took his hand in her own as they entered one of the building's elevators so they could make their way up to the top. "Don't worry, in time you'll get used to all the devices. You'll find they can make life a whole lot simpler than living in a magical world without modern technology and lots more the non-magic world has to offer."

Her husband glanced over at her as he responded, "These devices can also make lives a bit more complicated at times too. I heard your father on his phone last week as he spoke to someone about trying to fix those computers at the station. Or he tried to at least. He was on the phone for well over an hour. Apparently, he kept getting put on hold… or something? And passed around to other callers."

She nodded her head as she replied, "Okay, you're right about that. Technology can certainly be troubling quite often. You know, coming back here now, makes me want to sit down and enjoy the movie, Sleepless in Seattle. I know we haven't watched too many movies with you. But this one is a must see, especially now that we've actually been here together. Maybe tonight once we return to your ship, if you're up to it of course… we can watch the movie on my computer?"

"It sounds wonderful to me, love," he answered quietly in order to keep from talking too loudly about the oddities of one world to another while they were surrounded by other people coming to see the structure as they were doing, then looked over at her again with confusion. "I just don't understand how a movie titled, Sleepless in Seattle, has to do with New York. I've been studying this world's maps for some time now so I can learn to navigate wherever we might go in the future, and Seattle is at the opposite end of this country."

"Yes… that's true," his wife responded, as she understood full well why he was confused. "You'll see once we watch the movie. It's quite romantic. I look forward to cuddling up beside you in bed as you wrap your arms around me."

Killian kissed the top of her head as she rested it against his chest beneath his chin until the elevator finally stopped, then they along with everyone else surrounding them stepped out onto the top observation deck and the entire city suddenly came into full view. As they looked out around them, they could see the Chrysler Building that wasn't too far away and Central Park below them, along with the rivers and many skyscrapers as well as other spectacular structures lining the horizon.

Killian spoke again with awe saying, "Your world truly is quite exquisite, Swan."

Emma tenderly traced her thumb along the side of her husband's hand without looking up at him and replied, "It certainly can be."

In that moment, whatever worries the pirate Captain might have felt before seemed to vanish away while they looked out at their surroundings. However, his earlier suspicions that they were being followed were true and his fear in the back of his mind returned as Killian looked around him again for any signs that they were in danger. Unfortunately, he failed to recognize it as one of the cops who had arrested Killian his first time to New York, the same cop whom they had run into their second night back outside of the theater, walked cautiously out onto the observation deck not long after Killian and Emma had and moved around one of the building's corners so that he could continue to observe them from a distance while he remained unseen.

Later that night, the danger escalated when the two heroes walked down into the subway so they could catch a train to the closest station nearest the harbor where they would then walk the rest of the way to the Jolly Roger. However, while they were waiting for the train to arrive where there was strangely no one else around, three thugs appeared from another tunnel opposite from where they stood until the men crossed over the tracks and dangerously began to circle around them as they taunted the married couple.

Killian immediately stood protectively between his wife and those threatening them. But neither of the thugs really did more than make kissing noises towards Emma or mocked them, as the one who appeared to be their leader focused his attention on Killian while they glared at one another. The Savior instinctively raised her hands to use her powers to force them back without thinking. However, her eyes met her husband's as he laid his hand over one of hers in order to stop her, knowing it was too dangerous to use magic in front of them even to protect themselves. That was when one of the men reached out to grab Emma's hair to tug on it, as Killian swiftly grabbed the man by the collar of his coat and suddenly slammed his fist against the man's face to knock him down to the ground hard.

"I suggest you take it real easy, friend," the thugs' leader then stated while he pulled a switchblade from a pocket in the pants he wore and flicked it open. "We wouldn't want any blood spilled here tonight, do we? Or are you really a deranged maniac like he said you were?"

"We're not the ones looking for trouble," Killian answered while Emma laid one hand firmly on his arm and the other against the small of his back to reassure him she was still with him, as the third man stopped sauntering around them to stand back with their friend after the thug on the ground lifted himself up to do the same. "What do you want? Our money? You can have it. We just wish to be left in peace."

The assailant laughed cruelly and then curtly responded, "We aren't here to rob you. We're only looking to have ourselves a good time and we saw your fine looking woman here. What would you say to sharing her with us for awhile?"

The pirate was about to defend her until Emma quickly cut in as she pulled her badge from within her coat pocket and held it out for the men to see, then replied angrily, "You've picked the wrong people to mess with. We're both sheriffs. If you think you're going to get lucky tonight, think again. If you don't leave, right now… Trust me, you really want to. We're not just a couple of tourists."

"A badge doesn't scare me, sweetheart," the thug Killian had struck said when all of a sudden he attempted to pay the hero back, as the third guy moved in as well to help his friend.

Hook immediately rammed the man who charged at him forcefully into the wall, backhanded him hard across his face as he swung his left arm, then continued to fight him, while Emma grabbed the second attacker and flipped him over her shoulder so that he landed on his back. He attempted to get back up until she gave him one hard punch to the face that caused him to hit the back of his head against the ground, rendering him unconscious. She finished with him just in time to see the leader raise the blade over Killian to kill her husband while he was focused on fighting with his own thug, who was putting up a hell of a fight.

"Killian!" Emma fearfully cried out, and he swung around just as the assailant was about to thrust it into his back until Hook blocked the weapon with his false hand covered by a black leather glove and the blade became embedded into it.

Hook glared at the leader who was surprised to see the man he tried to kill had only one hand as he used it to stop his attack, then without another word, he simply ran off while the other thug still conscious struggled to run off after him upon being pretty roughed up in his fight against the pirate. Killian quickly looked down at the final thug still out cold on the ground to make sure he was no longer a threat to them while he pulled the switchblade free from his wooden hand and dropped it on the floor at his feet, then turned to Emma again to make sure that his wife was really alright. She rushed into his arms and held him close to try to let go of the fear that had risen within her the moment the men appeared, while he did the same. They only stayed this way for no more than a minute before they finally left the subway together to get out of there.

Not too far from where the assault took place, inside another of the underground's many tunnels which was also surprisingly empty, the two men who got away paused to catch their breaths. But as they did so, Brennan Peters walked out into the light from the shadows before them and caused the two thugs to jump upon being startled by his sudden appearance. As a cop, they should have been worried when he walked up to them with his gun held in his hand at his side. However, they just smiled and made no attempt to run.

Officer Peters put his gun back into its holster, then the assailants' leader spoke up saying, "I take it that you were watching the show? It looks like you were right. That criminal with the hot blonde on his arm knows how to pack one hell of a punch. He fights impossibly strong for a man with only one hand, but he's clearly far more protective of his girlfriend than he is of himself. Just like you thought he would be. But why did you want to know, especially since you already suspected this?"

Brennan looked between the two men while he answered, "It doesn't matter. You've done your part and now it's time for me to do mine. You finally paid off your debt. We're even now, Riff. But stay out of trouble. I won't be able to help you clean up your mess again. If I have to destroy anymore evidence, the chief might begin to look at me if he discovers something else missing."

"Relax… You have nothing to worry about," the man called Riff responded smugly. "You'll never see either of us again if that's what you want. But if you ask me, we have a good partnership going. It'd be a shame to break it up."

"There's no partnership," the cop replied crossly. "There never will be. I'm a cop and you're nothing, but a murderer who got away with your crime only because I saw helping you was beneficial to me. Now go back to pick up your partner from off the ground and disappear, or the next time I see you, I will kill you."

Once he finished dealing with the criminals he hired to test the stalker's strength and protectiveness over the woman who deserved so much better, as well as her love for him, Officer Brennan Peters walked away without so much as another word. The two thugs knew Hook and Emma would be gone, so they turned around and went back to pick up their friend as the cop told them to do, mostly so he wouldn't be found by anyone else and arrested, then forced to rat them out. Neither of them had any real loyalty to one another. So it would be easy to get him to talk.

Killian and Emma didn't know Officer Peters had been following them since their chance meeting. Brennan had followed the taxi that took them back to the harbor that night in his cruiser. The strange thing was, that as he watched them walk across the docks towards whatever boat he believed belonged to them, the couple disappeared before he could see where they went. The cop gave up after searching the harbor for nearly a half hour, then finally left. But with his resources from being a cop, he became driven to track them throughout the city, beginning with arriving at the docks early in the mornings to try to discover where they go each day when he had the time to do so outside of his duties, and where they disappeared to every night since. Yet he never could find where it was.

When the beautiful woman had come to him and his partner to report she was being stalked by a madman who tried to kiss her outside of her apartment and claimed something terrible was about to happen to her family, Brennan immediately became enthralled and dangerously infatuated with her. Yet when it turned out she was now married to the very man he had questioned about his own infatuation with Emma, Peters' obsession changed over to her husband, falling under the misguided belief that Killian wasn't the man she really wanted and that he was a danger to her. Now he just needed to prove it.


	7. Chapter 7

Of Monsters & Men

Chapter Seven

During the missing year…

While most of Captain Hook's former crew were busy drinking themselves into a stupor and enjoying the company of the tavern's women to care about being released from their services, there was a small group of pirates who felt differently, including the Captain's first mate, Mr. Smee. The man in the red knit hat was upset that he had been left behind, but the others were angry and they weren't at all shy about discussing it around the rest of the tavern's patrons no matter who they were. Some of them being former guards under the once Evil Queen's employ.

After waiting one of the pirates motioned to the tavern owner again by way of letting the man know he and the men wanted another round of drinks, then he spoke up to his friends curtly saying, "I'm telling you, the Captain didn't simply give us a few days to enjoy ourselves in this dump out of the goodness of his heart. He never had any intention of coming back for us. And he didn't tell Smee that we've been let go because he's disappointed by all the work we've done for him either."

Another of the men stared at the first in confusion as he asked, "What are you talking about? Does it really matter why he let us go? It's too late. The Captain's long gone."

"Without so much as a word as to why and he's stolen all of the gold and treasures we've collected over this past year for himself," the other man responded more angrily. "He wouldn't give us a chance to collect any of our things. And when I tried to, all he said was that there wasn't time. What could have been so important that we were abandoned with nothing, but the clothes on our backs? He wanted all of our loot for himself and that's that."

"The Captain received an urgent message earlier this afternoon," Smee finally said, being unable to sit back and listen as the rest of the crewmen slandered his friend without knowing the whole truth. "I don't know what was in it, but the Captain was upset by it. Whatever it was had to have been important, but no matter what you might think, he wouldn't let us go without a good explanation and it's not because he wanted all of our treasure for himself."

It was then that one of the black knights sitting at one of the tables nearby where the pirates sat asked, "Are you pirates saying you once worked for Hook… as in Captain Hook, the one-handed crook?"

One of the crew cynically answered, "Who else? Unless you know of another pirate Captain named Hook. What does it matter to you who we've been talking about?"

"We didn't think that old swindler was still around," another of the knights disdainfully replied. "We thought he'd gone soft."

"I don't understand," Smee responded oddly. "The Captain might have been absent for awhile, but he's still the same as he's always been. He's still the fiercest of any pirate to have ever sailed these realms. Just ask Black Beard or any mermaid you might come across if they don't kill you before you get a word out."

The first black knight to speak up retorted, "Captain Black Beard's the one who's been telling everyone Hook has gone soft."

The first mate glared at the soldiers as he answered, "That's probably so he can make himself look better to whoever might know about his and our Captain's last encounter. He probably failed to mention that Hook bested him in a duel, then made him walk the plank so he'd be eaten by the sharks."

"If that's true, then how is it he's still alive to tell the tale?" the other man questioned contemptuously.

"Because a mermaid happened to save Black Beard," another pirate who actually still respected his former Captain as Smee did replied, then turned his head to look over at his friend and first mate. "Go on and tell them what really happened, Smee."

The small round man stuttered until he reluctantly agreed to do so as he stated, "Well, it all began with a duel, as Hook and Black Beard fought to claim possession of the Jolly Roger…"

A few months ago…

 _As he stepped up onto the gangplank of his precious ship after knocking out one of the pirates standing watch on the docks, Hook called out to the rest of the men aboard the Jolly Roger saying, "Stand at attention, mates! Now boarding the ship… The rightful Captain of the Jolly Roger. Now, if the coward who tried stealing her from me would kindly show his face, I'll give him the punishment he deserves."_

 _"Gladly," Black Beard responded austerely as he walked up onto the main deck from below, while his eyes remained trained on the pirate Captain who was challenging him. "But it's not me who'll be punished. You want your ship back? Then take it."_

 _"With pleasure," Killian smugly answered and then began to fight his enemy as they clashed swords._

 _Black Beard laughed throughout their battle trying to taunt Hook, then succeeded when he managed to pin Hook against the mast and while he held him there, he said again cruelly, "I was afraid you weren't gonna show up. Word on the waterways is Captain Hook had gone soft."_

 _Hook glared up at him as he strongly replied, "The only thing soft will be your guts spilling on this deck."_

 _"I'd never give up the Jolly Roger without a fight," the rightful owner of the ship added after he got out from under the other Captain by grabbing hold of a part of the rigging and pushed off to swing away as it lifted him into the air, then the two men continued the fight. "You think you know the ship?"_

 _"Oh, every inch of it… I assure you," Black Beard responded haughtily._

 _Killian held his ground firmly as he uttered, "If that was the case… You'd know not to step there!"_

 _All of a sudden, the one-handed man slammed his cutlass down against the floorboards of the deck just as Black Beard stepped down on one Hook knew was loose, causing his foot to crash through the boards and become stuck within them while the villain cried out, "Aah!"_

 _"Oh, I've been meaning to fix that," the victor stated as he chuckled upon seeing his enemy become trapped, and laid his blade firmly against the man's throat._

 _"Finish it!" Black Beard angrily shouted while he scowled at the other pirate before him._

 _Hook raised his sword and was about to strike the man down while he answered, "Fancy a shave, do we? Well, I'll be happy to oblige."_

 _Before Killian could strike Black Beard down, from a few feet away, Ariel suddenly shouted to the Captain helping her pleadingly, "Wait! Eric's not on board. You have to get him to tell you where he is."_

 _"You heard the lady," Killian spoke again to the true villain sternly. "Where is he?"_

 _"So, that's what this was…" Black Beard replied smugly with a chortle, while he turned his eyes back to Hook after he glanced between him and the red haired woman who interrupted them. "A rescue mission for some wench? Ha! They were right about you, Hook. You have gone soft."_

 _As Hook lowered his weapon back against the villain's throat again, he glared at Black Beard and retorted coldly, "I can either make this painful... or quite painful. Now answer!"_

 _The villain responded, "I have him stashed safe and sound on a deserted island. Only I know where. I was planning to ransom him when the time was right."_

 _"Whatever it is, I'll pay it," Ariel immediately answered, just wanting her husband back safe and sound._

 _"Money's not what I'm after anymore," he replied._

 _Ariel quickly asked, "Then what is it that you want?"_

 _Black Beard fixed his eyes on Killian again while he smugly responded, "The satisfaction of proving Captain Hook is no longer a pirate."_

 _"How are you gonna prove that?" Hook questioned in disbelief that the villain could get him to do it._

 _"By giving you a choice," the other famous pirate Captain answered as he pushed the sword away from his throat. "Surrender the Jolly Roger to me, and I'll tell you where I'm holding her prince. Or refuse, and he dies along with me."_

 _No more than a few minutes later, the two men were standing on the plank over the wide open waters before them as Hook was about to push Black Beard overboard, until Ariel, who was being held back by Smee, stopped him again while she looked to Killian and pleaded, "You can't do this. We had an agreement. You promised me that you would help find Eric. Please. I know that you are a good man, and I know that man is still in there somewhere. It's not too late to do the right thing. Isn't true love more important than a few planks of wood and a sail?"_

 _All the while as she spoke, Hook stared ahead while clenching his jaw and struggled with the dilemma he faced, then finally replied cruelly, "She might just be a few planks and a sail, but she's mine."_

 _"She's all I need," he despondently continued as he turned his head and glared at the woman trying to stop him from taking back his only love he could actually hold onto. "Love brings nothing but wasted years and endless torment. I'm doing you a favor."_

 _"A little something to whet the appetite of our razor-toothed friends below," Killian then said to his enemy in front of him on the plank as he slashed his cutlass down his arm to leave a deep bloody gash and finally pushed Black Beard off, into the dark waters below._

 _The little mermaid screamed, "No!"_

 _Hook ignored her as he shouted out to the sharks he knew would be surrounding his ship saying, "Enjoy the feast, boys!"_

 _"The Jolly Roger is mine!" he called out to Black Beard's crewmen still onboard. "Any man willing to swear an oath to me shall be given quarter. Those who don't, you're welcome to follow your former captain."_

 _"Captain Hook!" the crew all cheered._

 _Killian turned back to Ariel and his first mate as he stated callously, "You may release her, Mr. Smee."_

 _The red haired woman suddenly slapped his face hard and then said to him cruelly, "I was wrong about you, Captain. You're selfish, and you're heartless. And that is what will bring you wasted years and endless torment. I feel sorry for you. You'll never be happy."_

Present past…

"After that, the mermaid left the ship by jumping into the ocean to rescue Black Beard so she could find her Prince," Smee finally finished the story. "She must have succeeded if that dastardly pirate is still alive."

"So your Captain hasn't gone as soft as the rumors about him have said," one of the black knights responded carelessly. "Not that it matters."

The knights finally turned away from the pirates to return to their own conversation amongst each other, then the crewman who had begun the slander against Hook spoke again saying, "Soft or not, Captain Hook is no longer the Captain we believed him to be. He's abandoned us and stole what's rightfully ours. I say we steal ourselves another ship and go after him, then kill him. Once he's gone, the treasures and the Jolly Roger will be ours."

Another of the men raised his mug filled with the rum they were all drinking and then answered, "Here, here! Here's to the end of Hook and to the beginning of our own adventures!"

"This is wrong," Smee tried to object nervously, as he was very much against the crew's plans to kill his friend. "The Captain may not be who he used to be, but he doesn't deserve to be mutinied upon."

"It isn't mutiny when we've already been released from the Captain's services, now is it?" the first pirate replied smugly. "Are you with us, or will we have to kill you too, Mr. Smee?"

Smee stood up from the table and slowly backed away from the rest of the men as they started stalking towards him until all a sudden, a rumbling was heard above the rowdiness coming from the rest of the tavern patrons. It wasn't long before the ground began to shake as everything toppled over and became disarrayed, then everyone started screaming in terror in the belief that a twister was about to consume them.

However, Smee and the crew ran outside and saw what wasn't a twister, but a large black cloud looming towards them fast. While everyone knew it was made of dark magic, no one knew better than Smee that it was yet another dark curse about to consume them at any moment. While most tried to outrun it, Smee and the pirates stood firm when the curse swept over them, unaware they would soon be returning to Storybrooke once more, without any memories of their plans to mutiny against their former Captain.


	8. Chapter 8

Of Monsters & Men

Chapter Eight

The curse thundered onward as Captain Hook continued to push his ship to her limit through the choppy waters surrounding them and at last, the dark cloud had fallen away within the distance behind the Jolly Roger when the curse finally went as far as it could reach. Killian watched as it consumed everything in its path while he stood within the crow's nest with his spyglass to his eye. He had succeeded in outrunning it, but at the cost of any self-respect his men held for him and perhaps even their lives, not really knowing if they would turn up in Storybrooke with the Savior's family and her friends.

Before he met Emma, Hook wouldn't have cared about what happened to his men. He hadn't cared about anyone, including himself for over two centuries since he lost what little he did care about. But he was no longer the villain everyone upon the high seas once feared and he couldn't go back. Now he was no one, alone without a reputation to match his moniker.

At long last, Killian arrived within vicinity of the port. Yet without anyone to help him dock his ship, all he could do was drop its anchor to keep the Jolly Roger in place within the ocean and then swim the rest of the way to the docks. It wasn't the first time he's done so, but with only one hand, swimming was more difficult for him than it should have been.

Finally, he was walking through the port and purchased a large cloak from one of the shops in order to conceal his identity until he found the man he was looking for, knowing that as Captain Hook no matter who he was now, he wouldn't be welcomed by anyone despite the villainy and dangers that took place here.

After searching for nearly forty-five minutes, Killian found the man he had come all this way to find as his enemy sat with two women on his lap among a large number of his own crew around a table while they drank and gambled, just how Hook expected to find him. Thankfully the Captain himself didn't appear too sozzled as the rest of his men did.

All of a sudden, he and the other pirates shouted and cheered when the man won the hand in the game they were playing, then roughly gripped one of the women sitting on top of him as he pulled her to him and kissed her sloppily. Once he let up, he lowered his head as he began to kiss her neck and finally her breasts while the other woman kissed his face and neck, then moved her hands down below the Captain's belt. That was when Killian couldn't stand watching the scene before him any longer and stepped forward.

"I hate to interrupt such a sickening display of drunken revelry, but I believe you'll wish to talk business with the man who tried to have you killed not long back," Hook said coolly when he removed the cloak to reveal himself before the pirates. "Hello again, Black Beard. I must say I was surprised to learn you had survived those sharks I fed you to."

"Well, well, well… Hook…" the other Captain replied darkly as he shoved the women off his lap, then rose to his feet to face his enemy. "You have a lot of nerve to show your face here. You know I can have my men to lock you in shackles, then take you out of here to do the same to you as you tried to do to me. Men!"

As the crew immediately grabbed their enemy by his arms and shoulders to hold him between them, Killian brusquely responded, "Trust me… you'll want to hear what I have to offer you!"

Black Beard moved to Hook until their faces were inches apart, then questioned, "And why is that? What could you offer me that you think I would be so eager to accept?"

"How about what it was you wanted during our last encounter," Hook answered dejectedly and with the look of defeat upon his face. "You wanted the satisfaction of proving that I'm no longer a pirate. You wanted the Jolly Roger and me to surrender her to you. Well, you have it. So long as you have a magic bean to trade."

"You mean to tell me that something of even more importance than some mermaid's captive Prince has arisen, that's worth destroying the cruel reputation you've worked so hard to build for yourself?" his enemy asked skeptically.

The men released their prisoner as their Captain motioned for them to, then Killian straightened out his leather duster again and replied, "I'm still a pirate, but the man who was Captain Hook is gone. And my ship is now yours. If you'll follow me, I will take you to the docks where you can see her still out upon the ocean with her anchor down. You'll have to steal yourself a rowboat to get to her, unless of course you have your own already."

Black Beard looked between his men who nodded, then turned to Hook again, pulled something small from his coat pocket, and held it out for him to see as he responded finally, "If you mean what you say, then you have yourself a magic bean. Show me to my new ship."

Down at the harbor…

"There she is," the rightful Captain of the Jolly Roger stated quietly, as he pointed out beyond them where the ship still remained safe and sound within the dark waters. "What do you say, Black Beard? The bean… if you will?"

"It's yours," the other man answered and handed the bean over to his enemy, then watched Killian walk away from them without another word, or even a final look back at what Black Beard knew was Hook's most valuable possession. "Men… we're setting sail come morning on our new prize. But tonight, it looks like we're going to have a bit more fun than just the company of some very fine women. I need three of you to come with me and the rest of you men, I want you to board the Jolly Roger to make sure she's truly in the perfect condition I believe she'll be."

Minutes later, Killian hurried through the port until he ducked between another tavern and one of the shop's where he stood alone and out of sight of anyone walking about, then pulled the magic bean out from the small change purse he had tucked in his belt. He also pulled out a small round piece of the rigging he had taken from off his ship by way of remembering it was once his. While he held both the part of his ship and the bean before him and stared at them, it wasn't long before he knew he had made the right decision. Emma was all that mattered to him now and if he had to give up his most valuable possession just for a chance to see her again one final time, losing the Jolly Roger was worth it.

Without any more hesitation, he put the rigging back into the bag and tucked it away again, then glanced at the magic bean one last time as he prepared to throw it at the ground in front of him to open up a portal. However, he was interrupted when Black Beard and his men appeared behind him and Killian knew he was in trouble.


	9. Chapter 9

Of Monsters & Men

Chapter Nine

Killian glared at the men while they surrounded him as he safely tucked the magic bean away again, then turned his eyes on Black Beard and spoke up coldly saying, "I thought we had a deal. You have the Jolly Roger. And you humiliated me by getting me to admit I'm no longer the pirate the rest of you once feared. What more do you want from me?"

The other pirate Captain sneered at him and smugly answered, "The answer to that is really quite a simple one, Hook. Your life. But first I promised my men we would all have ourselves some fun first. Whatever you wanted my magic bean for is clearly of great importance to you if you were willing to give up that beautiful ship which now also belongs to me. For what you did to me those months ago, I can't let you have what you truly desire. Not if it's worth more than the Jolly Roger."

"I should have known you'd still be sore about me nearly killing you," Hook replied in frustration, then pulled his sword from its scabbard to prepare himself for the men's attack. "If you think I will let you take me without a fight, you're an even bigger fool than I believed you to be. I have somewhere I have to be. So let's move this along, shall we?"

"Even with two hands, you couldn't defeat me and three of my men," Black Beard cruelly responded. "And there are no loose planks of wood to save you this time. I'll give you the same offer you made to me. I can make this painful for you, or quite painful. Surrender now or I won't be able to guarantee you live long enough to see the sunrise."

His enemy sarcastically retorted, "If you kill me here, you'll have broken your promise to your men that they'll be having some fun tonight. Be that as it may, I won't ever surrender to the likes of you. But I assure you, I have no intention of dying tonight. You want a fight, let's fight."

All of a sudden, two of the other pirates charged who they saw as only a former Captain and Killian deflected their strikes by turning his cutlass to them and their blades clashed. When one of them was cut down, the third man joined the other still alive and Hook struggled further as he used both his sword and hook to keep them from capturing or killing him.

Black Beard raised his own sword to join in the battle, but then thought of another way to knock Hook down so that they could take him alive and pulled his pistol from his belt. He laughed when one of his men slashed the one-handed man across his cheek creating a deep gash that began to bleed out. The real villain chortled while he aimed his gun, cocked back its hammer, then fired a shot off as it struck Killian's hand, causing him to drop his blade and cry out in pain.

The pirate Captain laughed again, as did the men still with him while Hook pulled his wounded hand close to his chest to try to stifle the flow of blood, then Black Beard stepped forward, raised his cutlass to Killian's throat like Hook had done to him, and finally said mockingly, "It would seem that you're no longer a one-handed pirate, but rather a zero-handed fool and my prisoner. Do you surrender now, Hook?"

"No he doesn't!" a woman's voice then cried out from above them, when a fairy suddenly flew down and fired her pixie dust into the other two pirates' faces to make them fall to the ground unconscious, before finally charging in between the two Captains as she transformed herself into human size in order to face off against Black Beard. "If you don't want to wind up like your men, I suggest you run away right now."

"This isn't over, Hook," Black Beard sneered coldly when he looked around the winged being standing between him and his victory to talk with his enemy. "We will see one another again and when that day comes, I will kill you."

The villain finally turned and ran off to regroup with the rest of his crew aboard the ship of all ships that now truly belonged to him, then the fairy quickly turned around to look at her friend behind her as Killian weakly spoke up again saying, "It's good to see you again, Tink. But what… How are you here? Why are you here?"

The Green Fairy rushed to him, then took his hand in hers and used her other hand to emit her magic so she could heal him while she answered, "I heard about the new curse that came through the Enchanted Forest before it arose and swept everyone up within it again like before. I took off and flew as far away from it as I could. As fate would have it, somehow you and I once again wound up in the same place. Sadly, it isn't any better than Neverland was. Are you alright?"

"I am now thanks to you," Killian replied softly as he gently pulled his hand away from her when she finished healing it, then flexed it a few times just to make sure he could still fully use it. "I didn't realize you had the power to heal, even as a fairy."

"Yes, well… I haven't used that gift for a very long time," Tinker Bell responded and raised her hand to his face to heal his other wound too. "Even before I lost my magic. I haven't needed to. What's going on? Why are you here in this awful place and why were you fighting against that other pirate? You haven't returned to being a villain again, have you?"

Killian looked at her again ashamedly and then with complete honesty he answered, "I tried to, but it turns out doing so isn't as easy as I thought it would be. I was never good at being anything other than Captain Hook. And now I can't even be him any longer either."

She looked at her friend sadly as she replied, "You're a better man than you've ever been able to give yourself credit for. You didn't answer my first two questions. What was that fight all about?"

"That was Black Beard seeking revenge against me for trying to kill him the last time we met," he responded in frustration, then pulled out the magic bean again. "I came here to this bloody place in order to seek him out for this bean, so I can get back to Emma wherever she may be. Transport between worlds should be possible again. Even traded the Jolly Roger to get it, but he wanted to leave me with nothing so that he could brag about defeating the once dreaded Captain Hook."

"You risked your life like that for Emma?" the fairy asked him with surprise. "Even gave up your ship for her? I mean, it doesn't surprise me that you would because I know how you feel about her. That you love her. I just thought that her memories were taken from her when Pan's curse came along and returned us all back to the Enchanted Forest. She won't even know who you are. Why put yourself through all this?"

Hook then pulled out the piece of cloth the message he had been sent was written on to show it to his friend and answered, "Because of this. This new curse recreated Storybrooke and brought her family and friends back there, but they're in danger. Emma's the only one who can save them. Thankfully, there was a memory potion I received along with this message. My only real problem now is going to be how to convince her to trust me enough to drink it so that she'll remember me. But more importantly, who she really is."

Tink shook her head in disbelief, then he lowered his head and turned away from her out of shame while she replied sincerely, "It's a shame that you really can't see yourself the way you always used to pretend to while we were trapped in Pan's services. You are a good man and I know Emma knows that too, or she will again when you succeed. Don't waste any more time here with me. You need to go."

"Would you like to come with me?" Killian asked when he raised his head again to look into her eyes. "She's trapped somewhere in a non-magical world, but…"

"Actually, I have duties here," the Green Fairy responded. "I mean in the Enchanted Forest. Not here, in this ugly and… You know, I'm not sure how I ended up here. But I'm happy that I did. It really is good to see you again, Hook. I wish you luck. Don't give up on yourself or your love for Emma. You will only fail if you do."

Killian smiled sadly and nodded, then leaned in closer to kiss her cheek before he said his goodbyes and expressed to her his gratitude for saving him from Black Beard and his men still unconscious behind them. He finally threw the magic bean against the ground, opening up a glowing green portal before him. He took one final glance at his friend as he gave her a small wave and then jumped in without hesitation, his only thoughts being of his Savior, the woman he loved so deeply.


	10. Chapter 10

Of Monsters & Men

Chapter Ten

Back in the present day…

After Emma and Killian left the subway and made it back onto the streets of the city, they immediately hailed a cab so they could return to the safety of the Jolly Roger. Once they were again sitting in the back of a taxi and struggling to get their breaths back under control, Killian pulled his wife again into his arms and held her close. As her head rested against his chest, he listened closely to his fast beating heart until it finally slowed to its normal speed and then lifted her head to look into his eyes.

"Are you certain you're alright, love?" Killian whispered so their conversation would remain between them and that the driver wouldn't be able to hear them. "We've been in plenty of battles against vile wizards, evil Queens, demon children, wicked witches, bloody dragons, and worst of all… ourselves. But yet you still seem more shaken than when we've faced all of them."

"I suppose that's because… with all the villains we've faced, I understood them and knew what their motives were for wanting to hurt us," the Savior responded quietly as she sat back against the seat behind her, then took her husband's hand again in her own and gripped it tightly. "And as Savior, I was able to help them and bring a number of them to the hero side because they weren't true villains at heart. Like you. I even understood the people I went after while I was still a bail bondswoman and learned why they committed the crimes they did before I met them. But those men we just faced tonight… they didn't seem like your average thugs and evildoers. There was something else. Something about them that I didn't understand and it isn't sitting right with me."

Killian nodded in understanding and replied, "Aye, I know what you mean. I too felt something wasn't right. It's just that everything happened so fast, I didn't have time to process everything. But now that I can… I didn't want to say anything because I thought I was only feeling paranoid after all of the villains we've fought against together. I've been sensing we were being watched ever since we've arrived here and I've struggled to push my suspicions aside so that we could finally enjoy ourselves without worrying about yet another villain rising up to try to tear us apart again. Then those men attacked us and I thought perhaps they were the ones who might have been following us. However, as I'm now thinking back, I realize that one of them said something… something strange that perhaps he shouldn't have."

Emma looked at him worryingly as she asked, "What did he say? Do you mean that comment about you being a deranged maniac? That might have been strange, but…"

"It wasn't just what he called me, Swan," he interrupted before she could finish. "It was also what he said after the cruel remark. The leader stated something about another telling him that I was this maniac. Why would he say that?"

"Because those three weren't the only ones watching and following us," his wife answered in concern when it suddenly dawned on her what he meant. "It doesn't make any sense. I hardly knew anyone when Henry and I lived here before and neither of us have done anything to anyone to give them a reason to want to hurt us. Not to mention the fact that whoever hired those thugs to attack us believes you to be dangerous."

Before either of them could continue, the cab pulled over as the driver looked back at his passengers through the rearview mirror and told them that they had arrived at the harbor like they wanted. Emma quickly paid the man, then she and her husband climbed out and continued walking to where the Jolly Roger was docked.

As they did, Killian spoke again to continue on with their speculations saying, "The cop we ran into outside of the theater. He's the one who hired those men. He's the one who has been watching us ever since then."

Emma looked at him strangely as she responded, "I don't… He can't be behind this. I know that sometimes cops go bad the same as the rest of us, but it just… It doesn't make any sense. Why would he be doing this to us?"

"Think about it, Emma," he replied in frustration, though it wasn't geared towards her for not understanding how this man could be the villain of this story, but mostly at those trying to harm them again. "He was one of the men who came to arrest me for stalking you. And what I left out when I told you of how I made my way back to you, is that while I was being held within that brig, this officer and his partner interrogated me for well over three hours to try to get me to tell them why I was trying to hurt you. No matter how many times I tried to assure them I meant you no harm, neither of them believed me. Not that I expected them to, just as you didn't believe me either. Not that I blamed you. My point is, while his partner stepped out, Officer Peters used the term, 'deranged maniac.' He said that I was just a deranged maniac in a strange Halloween costume, disillusioned to believe that you could actually love me."

"I can't believe he said that to you!" the woman who truly did love him cried angrily. "I wish I had slugged him when we saw him the other night. I remember when I first spoke with him… about you stalking me when I didn't know who you were, that I felt a little uncomfortable around him. I could sense something was strange about him, but I shrugged it off. I felt strange about almost everything during that year as you said I had when you came to me and convinced me my life was all a lie. But the apprehension I felt when we bumped into Peters outside of the theater, it was because the same feeling came back and I still didn't listen to my instincts even though they were stronger than before. Killian, I'm so sorry. I should have trusted my gut. And I should have sensed you felt something wrong too. I just… I still don't understand why this cop thinks you're so dangerous and why he would hire a few thugs to attack us. You're my husband now and I've explained the reasons why I didn't remember you, as you explained why you were stalking me. Our stories might have been stretching the truth a bit because of the 'magical' circumstances surrounding them, but he shouldn't know that."

Killian sighed as he motioned for his wife to go on ahead of him as they stepped upon the gangplank to board his ship and then answered, "For now, I suppose it doesn't really matter why he's the one behind this. It's getting dark and we're back aboard a safe haven. I say we try to relax and enjoy the rest of evening. We can watch that movie you spoke of earlier. Sleepless in Seattle, was it? Then, tomorrow we can head to the station here and speak with this cop's superior to see what can be done. What do you say, love?"

She turned around as Killian followed her onto the deck, then leaned in to kiss him and when she pulled away again, the Savior smiled at him while she responded, "It sounds like a good plan to me."

"Thankfully, I have a spare glove here that will cover up the hand and the now large gouge inside of it from the thug's knife," he stated while he offered her a sad smile, then looked down at his false hand as he prepared to change himself into clothes that were more comfortable as Emma had begun to do after they walked down into their quarters, and ripped off the torn leather glove over the wood. "But when we return home, I'll be needing to have a new hand made for me. You don't suppose Geppetto would be kind enough to do it?"

"I'm sure either he or August would be happy to make one for you," Emma replied while she picked up the spare glove she saw on one of the shelves beside his safe when he pointed to it and pulled it over the wood, unlatched the hand from his brace, pulled his hook out from within his jacket pocket, then clicked it into the support instead. "That's much better. It's more you. Not that you're not yourself without it. You may not be able to wear it out there, but in here you certainly can. You are after all the Captain of this fine looking vessel. Come on, I'll help you finish getting undressed. We have all night to watch the movie."

Early the next morning…

The sun had barely begun to come up over the horizon when Killian stepped out on the Jolly Roger's deck wearing only his pants to watch the sunrise and to get fresh air as he did every morning out of habit from doing so for over two hundred years. Some mornings, Emma would join him, even when they were back home in Storybrooke. However, as he rose from the bed as gently as he could on this particular morning, his wife was still fast asleep beneath the sheets and Killian didn't have the heart to wake her after such a rough night. So he let her continue to sleep.

Once the sunrise had come and gone, Killian quickly jotted a brief note to Emma and left it on his pillow for her to find for when she did awaken, so she wouldn't be worried about him not being there. Then, he quietly got dressed the rest of the way, attached his false hand into its brace again, left his ship, and walked from the harbor into the city to get them some breakfast and coffees.

Unfortunately, as he made his way back across the docks while he carried the bags of food and a tray with the hot drinks all within his one hand, Killian suddenly began to feel the same sense of danger that he's felt since arriving in New York. And this time, he knew not to ignore it. He stopped walking and slowly looked around him for any signs of trouble, but couldn't see anything out of the ordinary.

The pirate Captain cautiously kept walking forward, but instead of moving towards the dock where the Jolly Roger remained cloaked with his wife still safely aboard her, Killian turned down another in the opposite direction to draw away whomever he knew was following him. As he slowly made his way down to the end of the dock, the danger finally made himself known when all of a sudden, an assailant jumped down upon Killian from on top of one of the boats docked beside him after having climbed up to its roof so as to surprise his target.

The bags and coffees spilled open onto the planks of wood as Hook struggled against his attacker and it was then that he saw the man was without a doubt the very cop who had been after him and Emma all along, dressed down in clothes that weren't his uniform so he wouldn't be recognized as a cop while he did the dirty work for himself, instead of hiring a group of thugs to do it for him.

While Killian was resilient and had been well aware of the danger before he was attacked, Officer Peters was also strong from being a cop for many years and learning how to handle himself within dangerous situations. And he had the upper hand as Brennan suddenly pulled a taser from his belt and attempted to use it against his target's throat to knock him unconscious, but Killian managed to block him at first when he saw that the cop had a weapon of sorts.

However, Peters then managed to push it roughly into Killian's lower stomach and pushed the button which sent thousands of volts into his body and the agony was a pain he's never felt before as it rendered him extremely weak. Brennan then finally forced it against his neck as the officer had tried to do before, causing Killian to cry out painfully once again for no more than a few seconds until the second electric charge knocked the target unconscious almost instantaneously. Killian's last thoughts were that of seeing Emma again in the moments she had opened her door to him after he had first arrived in New York and saw no recognition of him in her eyes, which was one of his worst memories of the city.

 _He smiled upon seeing her face up close after nearly an entire year parted from her as he whispered, "Swan. At last."_

 _When he attempted to enter into the apartment, Emma immediately blocked him with her hand as she said tensely, "Woah! Do I know you?"_

 _"Look, I need your help," the odd, albeit handsome, stranger before her answered with concern in his eyes while he looked deep into hers in hope that she would trust him just a little to get her to listen to him. "Something's happened, something terrible. Your family is in trouble."_

 _"My family's right here," she responded curtly. "Who are you?"_

 _Even more desperately, Hook continued to explain as he replied, "An old friend. I know you can't remember me, but... I can make you."_

 _Without thinking straight about his actions, he foolishly planted a kiss on her lips until Emma immediately kneed him in the groin, causing him to groan in pain, and she shoved him back out into the hallway against the wall behind him as she asked fearfully, "What the hell are you doing?"_

 _"Long shot," he answered with a strained voice while he grunted again. "I had to try. I was hoping you felt as I did."_

 _"All you're gonna feel is the handcuffs when I call the cops," she responded in anger._

 _Killian tried to plead with her once more as he cried out to her replying, "Look, I know this seems crazy, but you have to listen to me. You have to remem…"_

 _Before he could finish, Emma suddenly slammed the door in his face, but before he walked away, he could hear her son speak to his mother through the door as the boy asked her who was at their door, then he heard her speak again as she was breathing heavily while she answered, "No idea. Someone must've left the door open downstairs. Come on, let's eat."_

Killian had walked away from her apartment feeling dejected, though mostly out of shame for his actions. Trying to kiss her was wrong and stupid because he knew beforehand that even if she did know who he was, he knew that she didn't love him and even believed she never would.

He couldn't have known then just how wrong he was not to believe in the impossibility of her love for him, as Emma did truly care about him much more than he ever thought she could despite her feelings being buried beneath Pan's curse, which had stolen her memories of Hook and her family from her and the false ones given to her from the former Evil Queen.


	11. Chapter 11

Of Monsters & Men

Chapter Eleven

After quickly getting dressed back into his uniform and leaving the unconscious man he had just kidnapped behind where he wouldn't be found or be able to break free from, Officer Brennan Peters rushed off to work for his shift that was about to start in less than an hour before he would be late, not wanting to draw any suspicion or unwanted attention upon himself from his partner, superior, and other fellow cops.

While he drove through the morning traffic, his thoughts drifted off to the afternoon he and his partner had first come into contact with his target after they watched and listened from a surveillance van nearby as they allowed the beautiful woman who had come to them for help talk with her stalker in order to draw him into a trap so they could arrest him. They knew she was a bail bondswoman from when they spoke to her and knew that she could handle herself just fine in this kind of situation, so they didn't argue with her when she suggested she talk with him.

 _Once she arrived in Central Park at the entrance to the zoo where the criminal was waiting for her and made her way over to him, with the sound of relief in his voice, Brennan heard as Killian uttered quietly, "Swan… I knew that'd work. It's good to see you again."_

 _Emma replied to him angrily, "Why didn't you tell me that was Neal's place?"_

 _"I think the tone of your voice answers that quite clearly," he answered sternly. "You never would have gone if I had."_

 _"What does Neal have you up to?" she continued to question the oddly dressed stranger in frustration. "Is he trying to get into Henry's life? How does he even know about him?"_

 _Hook looked into her eyes while he responded more firmly, "I've already told you. I'm not here because of Neal. I'm here because your parents are in trouble. Their entire kingdom has been cursed, ripped back to Storybrooke."_

 _Emma glared at him strangely as she curtly asked, "What are you talking about? My parents? Their kingdom? A curse? Do you know what you sound like?"_

 _"Like a mad man, I'm sure," he replied to her in defeat. "But it's true. Your parents need you. You're the only one who can save them. If you don't believe me at all, why did you come here?"_

 _"Because Neal has a camera with my son's name on it," she answered and reached down to pull out the camera's strap from her purse so she could show it and the name to him. "How?"_

 _Killian quickly responded, "Don't you see? That is proof of what I'm saying. Henry must have left that in the apartment when you were in New York last year."_

 _With determination, Emma retorted, "Not good enough. I want answers… Real ones."_

 _"There's only one way you'll get those," her stalker finally replied, as he reached down to his belt and pulled out a small blue bottle, then held it out to her. "Drink this."_

 _"Drink the thing the crazy guy just offered me?" the woman without her real memories cynically answered. "No, thank you."_

 _He scoffed and then responded, "It'll help you remember everything you have lost."_

 _She turned her head as she looked at him again with distrust while he continued, "If one small part of you senses that, don't you owe it to yourself to find out if I'm right? What do you say, love? Take a leap of faith. Give it a go."_

 _"Call me 'love' one more time, and you'll lose the other hand," Emma then said without feeling, while she suddenly cuffed Killian's wrist with one side of a pair of handcuffs and quickly latched the other end to the park bench behind him so he couldn't go anywhere, almost as she had done to him way back when they had climbed the beanstalk together in the Enchanted Forest._

 _"Swan, what are you doing?" Killian asked her sadly when she stood back up tall before him._

 _He struggled against the restraints as she glared at him and replied, "I'm making sure that you never bother my son or me again."_

 _She quickly whistled, which was when Officer Peters then approached the scene with his partner upon hearing the woman's signal indicating she was ready for them, then Emma turned to them while she called out, "This is the guy, the one who assaulted me."_

 _"It was a kiss," the stalker answered frustratingly, turning his eyes back on Emma when she started to back away from him._

 _"There," Emma stated. "He confessed."_

 _Brennan remembered reading the criminal his rights as he spoke up saying, "You're under arrest for assault and criminal harassment, sir. You have the right to remain silent."_

 _When the woman walked away from them, Hook struggled to break free of his and his partner's hold on their prisoner while he cried out, "Swan, please, you're making a mistake…"_

 _"A terrible, terrible mistake!" her stalker shouted more forcefully over him while Officer Peters continued with the rights. "Swan! Your family needs you!"_

The memory ended when Peters finally arrived at the station where he spent most of his hours and walked inside, removing his cap as he did so. He waved to a number of the other men as he walked past them until he took a seat at his desk, then looked around him for any sign of his partner, who sat at the desk across from him.

"You're a little late this morning, aren't you, partner?" the man in question asked smugly as he appeared behind him and patted his shoulder. "Run into that bad traffic out there did ya?"

Brennan watched his partner a little apprehensively as the other cop moved around to sit down at his desk as well with a cup of coffee, which he sat down in front of him, then he responded, "Yeah… as a matter of fact, I did. I take it you did too?"

The other man replied, "Every morning. Say, what are your plans for tonight after we get off work? How would you like to go to the ball game with me and a few of the other fellas?"

"I've made it pretty clear that I'm not a fan of the Giants, Mets, or any other sports team that might be playing right now, Bill," Peters answered sternly. "Besides, I have plans and they kind of involve a woman."

"Okay!" his partner responded excitedly. "Who is she? Do I know her? Is she beautiful?"

The smaller man asked, "Come on, what is this? Some kind of interrogation? Lay off me already, would ya. Speaking of interrogations, don't we have that junkie we have to talk to this morning? He should be down from his high by now."

Officer Bill Conway nodded and stood from his desk after Brennan did, then replied with frustration, "You do realize that sober or high, he isn't going to tell us anything. Criminals hardly ever do."

"You're telling me," Brennan answered, then motioned for his partner to walk on ahead of him towards the interrogation rooms, while his mind wandered again to the time he and Bill had interrogated Killian Jones, the stalker who was clearly from out of town and is now his prisoner once again.

Over a year ago…

Killian sat upon a hard wooden chair within a small closed off room behind a giant mirror while his right wrist was still cuffed to the table in front of him. His other arm with his false hand attached was also bound, but around his elbow to the arm of his chair so that he couldn't reach his hand down to try to free himself. Finally after a half an hour, both men who had arrested him entered the room, as the bigger officer sat down across from Hook, while his partner, Officer Peters, remained standing as he stared coldly at the stalker.

"So, how about we start by you telling us your name," Officer Conway said in more of a demanding tone, than simply by asking the man. "We tried running your prints through our databases and nothing came up on you. Either you're very good at what you do so that you haven't gotten yourself caught yet, or for some reason this is the first time you've become obsessed by the beauty of a woman."

Peters cut in, "I'm willing to bet it's not the latter."

Killian turned his eyes down on the black smudges of the ink still on his fingers from having his prints taken, then answered calmly, "I assure you, I meant her no harm. I mean her no harm. I met Emma Swan a year ago. She's a friend and so is her family."

"Then how come she doesn't remember you?" Brennan questioned more crossly. "She told us she's never seen you before until you first arrived outside of her apartment and then tried to kiss her. You also threatened her family."

"I would never…" he began to retort until he quickly realized that he had once been a threat to Emma and the others, so he thought differently about his defense even if it was still a lie in order to conceal the truth about magic and who they all really were. "I received a note that said her family was in trouble. I don't know who sent it to me, but it's the truth. And before you ask, I no longer have the note to prove to you what I say. Nearly a year ago, Emma and her boy mysteriously disappeared from the small town in Maine where we were all living and I've been trying to find them ever since. Now I finally have and both of their memories have somehow been altered. I don't know of the danger threatening her family, as I haven't been home all this time, nor do I know how else to convince you I speak the truth."

Bill Conway looked up at his partner and scoffed, then he turned back to Killian as he responded, "That's one heck of a story you're telling us, son. But you left out your name. Or is that just going to be another lie?"

Hook glared between the two men before him as he replied, "I've gone by many different bon mots over the years. Believe me, if you knew how old I really was, you wouldn't be calling me son. But to make things easier… Killian Jones. That's the name I was born with."

"British huh?" Bill stated. "I suppose that explains your accent. If you want to know what I think, that's the first thing I believe you've spoken the truth about."

"How do you explain the story you tried to tell Miss. Swan about her family being in danger from… what did you say, something about her parents kingdom and some curse threatening them?" Officer Peters asked, continuing their line of questioning. "You called yourself a madman when you spoke with her. I'm liable to agree with you. And what's with your clothes?"

Killian looked down at his black leather duster and his belt buckle, then answered, "I'm not certain if I can explain either of those questions. You won't believe me if I tried. No matter what the two of you might think of me, I'm not a danger to Miss. Swan. I'm not a madman, but I understand why she might have thought as such. I've done terrible trying to explain everything."

It was then that Conway stood up as he responded, "At least we all agree with one thing about you. I'm going to go out and allow my partner to take care of the rest of this interrogation while I run your story past our Captain. When I come back, I can bring you something to eat if you're hungry. I'm guessing you haven't eaten in awhile. Or slept for that matter. How about a bologna sandwich?"

"What's bologna?" the pirate asked strangely. "Never mind. And no thank you. I'm not hungry."

"Suit yourself," the bigger cop replied and then left the room, leaving his partner to finish as he said he was going to.

Brennan took his place across from Killian, then he spoke up again saying, "So… tell me again, what is your real interest in Emma Swan and why did you kiss her? Are you in love with her?"

Killian shook his head and while he lowered his eyes to his brace no longer holding his false hand due to the cops removing it from him when they had brought him in, then he answered, "She is my friend, nothing more. I simply wish to help her and her family, who I know are in danger. I am not stalking her and I'm no threat to her. I was only trying to restore her memories so she can return home."

"How did you lose your left hand?" the officer continued, upon noticing his prisoner staring down at his support. "And why do you wear a prosthetic made of wood and not one any hospitals can have made for soldiers who lose their limbs in wars?"

"That's none of your business, mate," Hook coldly responded as he raised his head again to glare at the cop still before him. "You haven't believed me yet. I say there's no point in continuing this conversation."

Brennan Peters stood up again as he suddenly slammed his fists down against the table in front of his prisoner, who didn't even flinch, then the cop angrily bellowed, "You're nothing but a deranged maniac wearing a strange Halloween costume, disillusioned to believe Miss. Swan could ever love you. We have all afternoon to talk, Mr. Jones. The longer you keep on lying to us, the longer this interrogation will continue. Is that what you really want?"

Killian turned his head away from him and quit talking, and when the officer realized he was finished, Brennan said again, "Fine. I'll talk and you can listen. But I assure you, we will get you to break and tell us the truth. Miss. Swan is a beautiful woman. Clearly she can take care of herself, but I will see to it that she and her son are protected from a monster like you. You won't be going anywhere, so long as I can help it."

Ever since the interrogation had begun, Killian sensed that something was off with this cop, but he shrugged off the feeling. However, all he spoke just then in regards to Emma set off his concern about him again and he knew he was right to doubt him, cop or not. But before the pirate could question the man's motives himself, Peters turned and walked out of the room upon hearing someone bang against the mirror, leaving his prisoner alone once again.

Present day…

When his shift finally came to an end, Brennan rose from his desk, anxiously gathered up the paperwork he had just finished filling out for the number of cases he and his partner were currently working on, then he walked into his police Captain's office to lay the files on his desk for the man's approval. He was about to leave the station, when his partner caught up to him on his own way out the door and slapped him across his back.

"Have fun tonight with that woman of yours, Bren!" Conway called out as he walked past his partner and eagerly rushed over to his car in order to make his way to the ballpark before the game began. "If she's caught your attention, she must be a real beauty."

"I suppose you could say that," Peters stated coldly even though the bigger man had already gotten into his car. "She'll definitely be worth all the trouble I've gone through once I find her too."


	12. Chapter 12

Of Monsters & Men

Chapter Twelve

Killian slowly awoke still feeling the aftereffects from the taser striking him in his stomach and his neck until his memory of being attacked on the docks by the cop suddenly came flooding back to him, as he fought to break free so he could make sure that Emma was still alright as he hoped she was. However, getting his bearings back wasn't so easy, as he struggled to simply lift his head, but by the time he finally could, he was able to get a better look at his surroundings and found that he was standing on an unfinished floor with his wrists and ankles chained against the wall behind him. He was trapped in what felt more like a dungeon down to the chains and candles used to light up the room, than some kind of prison he would have expected from a cop and it was only then that Killian realized that Officer Peters wasn't just a cop, but a sadistic killer.

All of a sudden, Killian's thoughts were interrupted when the sound of a door being slammed came from somewhere out of sight and he knew that the man had returned from wherever he had disappeared to. When Peters finally walked into the room, he was carrying with him a strange piece of equipment that looked vaguely like the kinds of machines Killian remembered seeing within the hospital in Storybrooke, like the same type of machine he remembered Greg and Tamara using on Regina when they had tortured her while they were both still villains.

"You're awake," Brennan stated smugly, then set the machine down and turned around to face his target, as Killian remained stoic while he raised his head to keep his eyes trained on the man before him. "That's good. I was hoping you would be. You don't seem too surprised to see me."

"I knew for certain after last night you were the monster who's been following me and my wife," Killian answered passively. "I've known someone's been following us since that night we saw you outside of the theater. I just didn't suspect you until those thugs you hired to attack us gave you away."

Brennan nodded and then responded, "Ah... Yes. I heard your conversation before the fight broke out. The leader of the pack mentioned I had called you a deranged maniac. I should have hired someone smarter to help me get what I needed, but these boys owed me a favor. It doesn't matter anymore though. What's done is done and you're here now. Don't bother trying to get free. Those chains are firmly latched to the wall and are more than sturdy. If you try to scream out for help, no one will hear you. We're in the basement of a building that was once under construction until its workers abandoned the project over a year ago for it being condemned. We're all alone, just you and me. Oh… and as for your cell phone, I smashed it so it can't be traced here and your credit card is probably in the hands of some junkies who will use it for God only knows what. I dumped your wallet into a dumpster far across town from here. By the way, I'd watch your mouth on who you call a monster if I were you. "

The pirate Captain brazenly replied, "I've been in far worse straits than this. This isn't the first time I've been locked up in a dungeon, or some kind of torture chamber before and believe me, you're weak compared to some of the monsters I've faced in my life."

"Cheeky bastard," Officer Peters said angrily as he suddenly reached out to grab his prisoner's throat and started to squeeze, while Killian gasped for breath. "You think you're real clever, don't you? Just because you're a sheriff alongside Miss. Swan in your hometown? I promise you, you have no idea what's in store."

"I can hardly wait," Hook retorted shakily yet snidely, then watched as the officer stepped away and began to rummage through his pockets in his shirt, vest, and leather jacket which Peters had removed from his person along with his brace and its support, most likely when he had first strapped Killian against the wall.

Once Brennan got to the jacket, he found Killian's hook in the left inside pocket and pulled it out to examine it, then he looked over at his captive as he questioned, "What do you carry this thing around in your pocket for?"

He was about to toss it aside until he noticed the brace lying on the chair beneath Killian's clothes and glanced at the false hand until he realized that the hook's end was shaped perfectly to latch into the prisoner's brace, then turned to back to the other man as he asked mockingly, "Who do you think you are… Captain Hook?"

"I can't say I haven't been called that from time to time," Killian answered. "It's more of a cruel moniker now, that very few people actually use out of respect."

"Very funny," his assaulter curtly responded, then dropped the hook and the rest of Killian's things onto the ground and began to make adjustments to the equipment he brought in.

Killian finally spoke up again out of frustration saying, "What is this all about? Why have you been following us around and why am I here, chained up to this wall? What is it you could possibly want from me?"

Officer Peters turned around and began to tape the electrodes attached to his torture machine up to Killian's bare chest while he responded, "You're here because you don't deserve a woman as beautiful and strong-willed as her. You're nothing, but a criminal and I'm going to make sure you know it. Then… when I'm done with you, I'll prove to your so-called wife that she's chosen the wrong man to marry."

"And I suppose you think you're the better man?" his captive asked cruelly. "We love each other. You won't get near her. I assure you, she'll find you first and she'll defeat you. She's far stronger than you know."

"Even her skills from being sheriff and a bail bonds woman won't be of much to help her," Brennan replied darkly when he finally finished his task at hand and Killian looked down at his body to see five electrodes taped to his chest, then Brennan pulled out the taser again from his belt. "The pain you must still be feeling from the taser is nothing compared to what you're about to feel from this defibrillator I've fixed up. We're going to play a little game. You're going to tell me everything I want to know, but if you lie and continue to act clever, you'll regret not cooperating with me. Shall we try? Where are you from? And why is there no record of you to be found, criminal or otherwise?"

Killian glared at the man before him as he answered in frustration, "You wouldn't believe the truth if I told you. I'm not from this world, or even this time. At least not until a couple of years ago."

Upon hearing the man's answer, the cop turned to the machine and cranked up the dial to its lowest setting, causing Killian's body to jerk as the electricity suddenly began to flow through his body. He threw his head back against the wall and clenched his fists tightly, as well as his jaw while he struggled to keep from crying out against the excruciating pain.

Finally, Officer Peters shut the machine down and allowed his prisoner collapse as far as his body could against his bonds, then he leaned in close as he whispered, "This is only the beginning, Jones. Your pain will only continue to worsen if you keep acting on as though I'm a fool."

"I told you, you won't believe the truth," Killian responded weakly. "Go ahead and do your worst."

"All right, but don't say that I didn't warn you of the consequences," Brennan replied smugly as he turned up the dial to emit the electricity once more, this time increasing the volume so that his agony was far worse than before, and Killian couldn't stop himself from screaming until he mercifully passed out, then after noticing Killian had lost consciousness, Brennan finally turned the machine off again and spoke to his unconscious prisoner. "We'll try again later. Right now, it's time I go out and try to find Emma. If I'm lucky, she'll be here when you wake up and then we can continue our fun."


	13. Chapter 13

Of Monsters & Men

Chapter Thirteen

That same morning, aboard the Jolly Roger…

 _Upon seeing Hook take a seat at one of the empty tables outside in the patio area through one of the diner's windows, Emma realized she had one more thing she needed to do that evening before the celebration ended and walked out to join Killian as she took a seat across from him, then she spoke up quietly saying, "So… do you think Rumplestiltskin is right? I'm in the book now. He said everything, besides our little adventure, would go back to normal. Do you think that it is?"_

 _He chuckled and then responded cheekily, "He's right. Otherwise I'd remember that damn bar wench I kissed."_

 _"How would that prove anything?" she asked, as she smiled because of his swagger._

 _"I know how you kiss," Killian proudly answered, though he twirled the rings on his fingers almost as if he felt uncomfortable for admitting such a truth. "I'd have gone after her. But I didn't. My life went on exactly the same as before."_

 _Emma teased him as she replied, "Yeah, must have been the rum."_

 _Hook smiled and then stated, "Everything's back to normal. You're a bloody hero, Swan."_

 _"So are you," the Savior responded sincerely upon noticing his humility about being there for her when she needed him to be and tenderly rested her hand over his arm, as Hook only chortled again. "I wanted to thank you, Killian. For going back for me in the first place in New York. If you hadn't…"_

 _He quickly interrupted, "It was the right thing to do."_

 _Emma continued to notice something was off with him as though Killian was still hiding something out of shame or embarrassment and so in hope of getting him to open up to her, she asked softly, "How did you do it? How did you get to me?"_

 _"Well, the curse was coming," the pirate Captain answered casually. "I ditched my crew and took the Jolly Roger as fast and as far as I possibly could to outrun it."_

 _"You outran a curse?" she asked out of disbelief._

 _She chuckled herself when Killian continued by saying, "I'm a hell of a Captain. And once I was outside of the curse's purview, I knew that the walls were down. Transport between the worlds was possible again. All I needed was a magic bean."_

 _Emma replied, "Those are not easy to come by."_

 _"They are if you've got something of value to trade," Hook responded while he lowered his head to look down at his hand again._

 _"And what was that?" she asked him, having no idea that what he was about to tell her would make her see just how much he truly cared for her, and she for him._

 _Almost as if he was teasing her even though he truly spoke with sincerity, Killian then answered, "Why, the Jolly Roger, of course."_

 _The Savior looked for any signs of a lie within his eyes as they softened and then out of astonishment, she questioned, "You traded your ship for me?"_

 _"Aye," he uttered softly with a simple nod of his head, then Emma leaned into him to kiss him._

All of a sudden, her dream began to change when Killian transformed into the very man who had begun to turn their honeymoon into a nightmare and the Savior immediately pulled back, then quickly stood above the man who didn't make a move from where he sat while he looked up at her with a cruel smile on his face. Emma stuttered out of fear as she attempted to lash out at him to ask how this was possible and to demand where her husband was, but found she couldn't speak. She tried again until she turned her head around upon hearing a scream fill the air around her. A scream belonging to the man she loved, and she could somehow feel he was in pain. Emma was about to cry out to him, when her surroundings began to spin until she suddenly burst awake as she abruptly sat up from the bed she and Killian shared aboard the Jolly Roger.

"Killian!" she called out worryingly, knowing she had just woken up from a beautiful dream that had turned into a terrifying nightmare, but she suddenly felt a profound fear that something was very wrong and she looked around upon finding that her husband wasn't lying beside her any longer, nor was he anywhere within the room. "Killian!"

As the feeling of dread grew even deeper in the pit of her stomach, Emma rose from the bed and quickly pulled on some clothes before leaving the confines of her husband's quarters. But as she did so, she found the note that he had left for her to tell her he had stepped out to take a walk as he did every morning and to get them some breakfast. She knew this note should have made her feel some relief except none came and she immediately continued, then rushed out onto the deck in hope that he had returned and was busy taking care of his ship, but still Killian was nowhere to be found.

Finally, Emma glanced down at her watch as she pulled it out from her pocket to strap it on, along with her cell phone and then scrolled down to his name on the phone's screen to try to call him. However, as she did so, it just went straight to voicemail. He hardly ever used it unless it was to make and receive calls involving trouble, as he was a sheriff now, and he still wasn't very good with using the device even though he's had it for a few years now, but he knew to always leave it turned on. Everything was leading Emma to believe that Killian was in trouble, yet she didn't even know where to begin looking for him.

She stepped off the gangplank onto the docks and slowly began to walk around the harbor in hope he would be somewhere around, perhaps staring off at the horizon like he did often when he was feeling troubled by something. After the trouble they had run into last night and upon learning that their instincts they were being followed were both right, they certainly had cause to be worried. However, it was because of these dangers arising that Emma also knew Killian would have preferred to remain close to protect her above himself as he always did. He had left the Jolly Roger to get food and coffee for them, but she knew that he knew she was safe onboard because the ship was cloaked. Neither of them could have known the dangers would strike while one of them was out of the spell's protection long enough to get breakfast.

As the Savior remembered the threat against them last night, it suddenly dawned on her then who she needed to see, but as she was about to head back to the Jolly Roger to finish getting herself ready, she noticed ahead of her on the dock where she found herself that there were a flock of seagulls surrounding whatever food they had found and Emma rushed towards what she could now see were bags from the coffee shop not too far out of the harbor where she and Killian have gotten breakfast a few times since they arrived in New York. Upon shooing the birds away, Emma not only found remnants of the food Killian had gotten for them that morning, she also found what remained of his cell phone, as pieces of it laid smashed and scattered at the end of the dock. She also found scuff marks from mens shoes that indicated there had been a fight here, confirming her fear that her husband had been taken and she had a pretty good idea where to start looking.

Emma quickly stood up and spun around to run back to the ship, but a young man suddenly appeared as she did so, completely catching her by surprise until he immediately said, "I'm sorry. I really didn't mean to startle you. I'm Nathan. I live here, in this harbor on one of these boats. My girlfriend and I do."

She hardly looked at him while she walked right past him and replied, "I hate to be unneighborly, but I'm afraid I'm really in a hurry this morning. I don't have time to talk."

"You're looking for that guy you're here with!" he quickly called out to her again, as Emma immediately froze, then turned around to face the kid now behind him. "The guy always wearing black?"

"You know about my husband?" she asked curtly. "Did you happen to see what happened here this morning?"

Upon seeing the darkness in her eyes, the young man nervously responded, "I did. I mean… I kind of did. What I mean is, my girlfriend and I were sitting out on top of our boat this morning and we heard the sounds of a couple of guys fighting. We turned around to look in the direction the fighting was coming from and we saw the guy we've seen you with and… Ah… look, I promise you we weren't really spying on you. It's just that we've noticed you and your guy, your husband, walking to and from the docks every morning and night. You both are a little difficult not to notice. I mean, you're gorgeous and my girlfriend, she thinks your husband is…"

Emma cut him off as she spoke again saying, "Tell me about the fight. Did you see the man who attacked him?"

"Not really," he answered. "It was pretty early and the sun was barely up. I was really tired so I didn't get a very good look at the guy. He also kept his head down even after he managed to knock your husband unconscious using a taser, I think. I'm sorry. There was also this other guy. The guy, he helped the other guy drag your husband away. Practically carried him over his shoulder really. This guy is huge. If you want, I can tell you where to find him. I know him. We were going to go to the police with all this, but they wouldn't believe us. I've got a record and the reputation of a hoodlum around here."

"Give me the address," the sheriff replied and then showed the kid her badge. "Please, I don't care who you are or what you've done. I just want to find my husband."

He looked at the woman before him with surprise upon seeing she was a cop, but he smiled and then stated, "You're pretty cool for a chick who's a cop. The big guy isn't too far from here. I'll show you."

Emma nodded, then began to follow him as she responded, "I appreciate you coming forward and telling me all of this. But you should know that if you're playing me for kicks… or anything else, your record will get a bit taller. You're not lying to me right now, but if you do, I will know it."

"I promise you, I won't," the young man answered, when he stopped to turn around and look back at her. "Are you some kind of psychic or something?"

"Hardly," the Savior replied curtly. "But I'm very good at telling when someone's lying to me. Keep walking. My husband doesn't have all the time in the world to wait for us until we're done chatting like we're friends. I just want to find him and go home."


	14. Chapter 14

Of Monsters & Men

Chapter Fourteen

Emma followed after the witness to her husband's abduction as he led her further through the harbor until they came upon an old boathouse at the far end of the docks. It looked as though it used to be a business where people could rent boats, jet skis, etc.… However, now it was rundown and boarded up, looking as though no one had been inside of it for years. Emma was about to question Nathan as to why he led her down there, until a young girl stepped out and began to feed and play with what appeared to be a stray cat.

"I thought you said you were taking me to the big guy who helped to kidnap my husband?" she then asked the young man she followed down there as she turned her head to look back at him. "Who's that?"

"That's the big guy's little sister," he replied. "They're both homeless as far as anyone around here knows. But he takes really good care of her despite their living conditions. There have been a few of those in this harbor who have tried to have them removed from the boathouse by calling child protective services on them. The police have tried a few times, but they always come back. Now the cops don't even try anymore."

Emma turned back to watch the little girl still playing with the cat as she responded sternly, "They may not try anymore because I have a feeling one of them has found a way to take advantage of their poor circumstances to help him get what he wants. I need you to leave. I can take things from here. Go back home, or to your boat. Thanks for your help."

Nathan nodded, then he answered, "Sure thing. You should know, Miss. Officer… I mean… You ought to know that the big guy isn't bad. Whoever it was who took your husband must have something on him to get him to help. He wouldn't hurt anyone. And all he did was drag your husband away for the real kidnapper."

"I suspected as much," the Savior replied gently and watched her witness walk away until he was out of sight, then turned back to watch the girl, when her brother finally waked out of the boathouse to watch over her and she understood why it was her witness called him simply, 'big guy,' as he was almost as big as Anton from back home.

"What if I'm wrong about this?" Emma asked herself out loud in frustration, while she struggled to figure out how to approach him, not knowing for sure if he was really dangerous or not.

It was then that Emma remembered a moment between her and Killian after she had dropped the charges she brought up against him, when he had given her some of the best advice she had ever been given, as she heard him respond, " _Trust your gut, Swan. It will tell you what to do._ "

The Savior breathed in and out to gather her courage, then finally walked down to the old boathouse and upon seeing her approaching the siblings, the brother saw her coming towards them first as he immediately stood while he pulled his sister behind him, then Emma quickly called out to them saying, "It's okay. I promise you, I'm not here to hurt you or to try to bring you in. I only want to talk to you."

"Are you a cop?" he asked curtly.

"No… Yes, I'm a sheriff, but from a small town in Maine, not from anywhere around here," Emma answered as she pulled her badge out again to show him that it wasn't a badge that matched those belonging to the NYPD. "My name is Emma Swan. And you are?"

He stared at her with disbelief until he finally saw the softness in the woman's eyes and nervously replied, "Jerry. And my sister's name is Samantha. Why would a cop from Maine want to talk to me? I've never been out of New York. Please, if you're friends with…"

She quickly cut him off as she said, "I'm not a friend of Officer Peters. However, I am here because my husband, who is also a sheriff, has been kidnapped and I heard that you helped Peters by carrying him out of the harbor for him."

"I didn't want to hurt that man," Jerry quickly responded. "I mean… I didn't actually hurt him, but Officer Peters told me that man was a criminal and he needed my help so he could drive him back to the police station after he arrested him. And he threatened me if I didn't help him."

"My husband isn't a criminal," Emma retorted in frustration, but because she now understood Jerry had some kind of mental disability that made him easy to manipulate, her frustrations were not aimed at him. "He's a good man. He didn't do whatever that cop might have told you he did, Jerry. How did Officer Peters threaten you?"

The little girl moved out from behind her brother as she answered, "That cop said he was going to split us apart. My brother didn't know the cop was lying to him. He didn't know he was kidnapping anyone."

Emma looked down at her and nodded, then turned back to Jerry as she replied, "I believe both of you. I know that the cop coerced you into helping him. I know you wouldn't have done as he asked if he didn't threaten you. Look, I can help you. I want to help you and I promise you I will, but first I need to help my husband because he's in trouble. Can you tell me where you carried him to?"

"I only carried the man to his car like Officer Peters asked me to do," he remorsefully responded. "I put him in the back seat of his police car, then he cuffed him. The cop told me he a bad man. I'm sorry. You love the man I helped the cop take away?"

"Yes I do," the Savior answered sadly. "Very much. Which is why I need to go try to find him. I want you both to stay here and take care of each other. I'll be back as soon as I can. I promise that I'll do all I can to make sure Officer Peters won't be back to try to split you up again."

Samantha suddenly ran up to Emma as she wrapped her arms around her and then stated happily, "Thank you! I hope you find the man you love. When you come back, will he be with you?"

Emma smiled as she looked down at her and replied, "I hope so. I really hope so."

After she left the harbor, Emma hailed a cab and took it to the NYPD precinct where Officer Brennan Peters worked to speak with the real criminal's superior like she and Killian had discussed the night before. If she could have created a locator spell to find her husband, she would have the moment she realized he was in trouble. Unfortunately, she didn't have the ingredients needed for the spell aboard the Jolly Roger and it wasn't something her magic could simply conjure up. Besides, it wasn't just a matter of saving the man she loved any longer. She needed to help Jerry and Samantha, but she also had to bring down the dirty cop and make sure that he pays for the crimes he's committed. Magic couldn't help her now.


	15. Chapter 15

Of Monsters & Men

Chapter Fifteen

When Emma walked into the thirty-fifth precinct, she cautiously looked around the bullpen in search of the cop who kidnapped the man she loved, or his partner. A part of her hoped Officer Peters would be there so she could confront him and force him to tell her where Killian was. However, she had come to speak with the Captain in charge of the men of this precinct. Emma knew if she confronted Peters now, he would deny being involved and she would react in anger. Besides, she couldn't use her magic to get him to talk like she would any of the villains she's fought against in Storybrooke or the Enchanted Forest. Lashing out against this monster wouldn't help her husband, so she was grateful the dirty cop didn't appear to be around.

The Captain walked out from his office shortly after she arrived and when he recognized Emma as she started towards him, he called out to her saying, "Well… well… well… If it isn't Emma Swan. I didn't think I'd ever see you around here ever again. Work as a bail bondsman must be pretty slow going. It's been what… two years or so since we last saw you?"

She came up to him and answered, "Something like that, I suppose. It's good to see you again, Captain Chapman."

"Lionel," he quickly stated. "I told you not to address me so formally after you've started coming to us with some of the defendants you've chased down for about…"

"For about a year," Emma replied anxiously, not being in the mood to catch up on old times. "And it's no longer Swan. It's Emma Jones now. I recently got married. Which is part of why I'm here. We need to talk, Lionel."

It was then that the police Captain noticed her concern and he quietly responded, "Of course. Come on into my office."

He closed the door behind her as Emma took a seat and Chapman sat across from her behind his desk, then he continued, "First of all, congratulations on your marriage. But clearly you're not here just to tell me that. Whatever's troubling you… What is this all about, Emma?"

"I can imagine you remember that man who I came to you about stalking me?" Emma answered him in frustration over having to explain herself again before getting into the reason for her being there. "Well, he's my husband now. I was in an accident and I lost my memories for the last year when I first moved here from Maine. I had met Killian in that time, so after the accident, I didn't recognize him or know who he was. But he'd been looking for me since I disappeared and did everything he could to help remind me of my life. I thought he was stalking me. Eventually, I did finally remember everything, including that I loved him."

"That's incredible," the Captain replied and then with confusion he asked, "So what kind of trouble are you worried about then?"

She looked at her friend worryingly and responded, "We live in Maine again, but Killian and I came to New York on our honeymoon. Everything was fine until we were mugged last night by a few thugs. But they were hired to attack us. My husband was almost killed. Look… I'll explain as much as I can, but to make a long story short, Killian's been kidnapped and I know who's responsible. The trouble is, you're going to have a hard time believing it."

Lionel spoke again saying, "I think I know you well enough to trust that you wouldn't make an accusation against anyone if there wasn't something to your instincts. You have quite the reputation and skillset. Who do you suspect has taken your husband?"

"One of your own men," Emma curtly answered. "Officer Peters."

"Brennan Peters?" he asked skeptically. "Look Emma, I hope you have proof to back up this accusation against one of my men. Brennan is a good man and a good cop. I can't believe he would hurt anyone."

The Savior placed a hand over the bridge of her nose as she replied, "I know you must think that. Why do you think I told you you'd have trouble believing me? Look, I don't have any proof. Please just hear me out, Captain Chapman. When Killian was arrested by Peters and his partner when I accused him of stalking me after we all first met… Peters interrogated him for over three hours, in which time he called Killian a deranged manic. What made us really know that our suspicions we were being followed since we ran into Officer Peters nights ago outside of a theater were right, was that last night the thugs who attacked us also called Killian a deranged maniac and mentioned they had gotten the term from whoever hired them. I know how this sounds, but I'm not making it up."

Chapman stood again as he made his way around his desk to move closer to the woman accusing a cop of being dirty, then responded sternly, "I do believe that you honestly believe all this, Emma. And I want to believe you too, but without definitive proof that one of my men really has taken your husband, I can't really do much for you. I truly am sorry about your husband. And I promise you that I will do everything I can to help you find him. I'll even talk with both Peters and his partner, Officer Conway. If there really is some truth to what you're telling me…"

"Is Peters here?" Emma suddenly interrupted. "If I'm with you, it won't be so easy for him to simply deny everything."

"I gave him and his partner the afternoon off," he answered. "It's been a slow week and they've worked hard on their last case. I thought they deserved a chance to go home early. But even if they were here, I couldn't have you around when I question them. Especially not Brennan. I'll see if I can track Peters down. Maybe he'll be willing to come back in so we can get to the bottom of this. And we will, Emma."

She nodded, then replied, "If you can get him in here, there are also a few witnesses who saw Peters attack Killian down at the docks this morning. Two of them know it was a cop because Peters threatened them, while a couple witnessed the assault. They didn't get a good look at him, but I'm sure they'd recognize him if they were brought in for a line up."

Lionel questioned, "And the other two you mentioned? Did they get a good look at him?"

"The other two are brother and sister," Emma responded with concern. "The older brother is a mentally disabled young man Peters used to carry my husband back to his police car for him because he couldn't do it without arousing too much suspicion. He's a big guy. He didn't understand what he was really doing. Besides, he and his sister are homeless and Peters threatened to split them apart if the boy didn't help him. I promised them I would help them so that they would be safe and would be able to stay together."

"I'll tell you what," the Captain finally said before Emma could go on any longer. "Come back tomorrow morning and by then I will have hopefully spoken to Peters to get his side of the story. Then you can take me to talk with the witnesses you've found. I'll see for myself if their stories are reliable. But Emma, I doubt the testimony of someone who's mentally disabled and homeless will give much weight to your accusations against Officer Peters."

She looked at him in his eyes and whispered sadly, "All I want is my husband back. I won't jeopardize his life any further by risking your line of questioning if there's a chance you can get Peters to admit the truth and tell us where Killian is."

He guided Emma back through the bullpen to lead her out and then spoke up once more before she left the station saying, "I appreciate your understanding and willingness to cooperate with the rules. We'll get to the truth and find your missing husband. And if you're right about my man being a dirty cop, he will pay for his crimes. I don't take betrayal lightly and I don't tolerate it. You have my word."


	16. Chapter 16

Of Monsters & Men

Chapter Sixteen

 _"String him up," Hades ordered as two of his thugs walked over to stand above the wounded, pain ridden soul of Captain Hook, then grabbed him by his arms and forced him back to his feet while they dragged him over to the middle of the dungeon that was the God of the Underworld's throne room. "Remove his coat and shirt, then make sure that his arms are stretched out nice and tight. Lock his ankles in shackles as well. Oh… and hand me his hook. I can't very well have him use it to try to break free from the chains. Besides, I have to deliver the Savior a message and his hook will be a nice touch to add a little fuel to her fire."_

 _"Do with me as you will, but... no matter what you do… to me, Emma will find… find a way to destroy you," Killian responded weakly, but with confidence as two stone posts rose up from beneath the floor while the two minions chained their captive to them, his right arm by his wrist and his left by the crook of his elbow, since Hook didn't have a hand there to keep from pulling what was left of his wrist out of the shackle. "You will regret going up against her and her family."_

 _Hades laughed as he walked over to his throne to pick up a lash, or a cat-o'-nine-tail, and cracked it in the air just inches from Hook's face, then replied cruelly into his ear, "I already regret it. Not because I fear they'll defeat me. No, but because they'll want to ruin all of my hard work and because they're causing me grief. They will pay for their trespasses soon enough, but you Captain, your torment has just begun. And I'm going to enjoy it, every moment of it immensely."_

 _Killian closed his eyes and clenched his fist as he prepared for more pain that he knew was about to come, while Hades stepped back and cracked the whip in the air once again, then he asked smugly, "Tell me, Hook… What is worse? Knowing that I am going to make you suffer for the rest of eternity, at least until I get bored with you and pass you off to my demons in a deeper part of this hell we're all trapped in, or knowing that you are responsible for condemning the woman you love with all your heart and the rest of your loved ones to their own personal hell along with you? If only you didn't have to be such a martyr and a hero. If you had just allowed the darkness to consume you so that the Savior would have killed you for hating the man you became, then she never would have followed you down here. Oh well, c'est la vie."_

 _Suddenly without warning, the first stroke of the lash struck his back as Killian wanted to cry out from the agony, but he wasn't about to give Hades the satisfaction of seeing his pain, so he bit his tongue and kept his mouth closed. A second lash came and a third, while again he kept quiet._

 _This wasn't the first time Hook had been whipped in his long life. In fact, he had been whipped several times while enslaved by Captain Silver. He was used to feeling pain and having to suppress it to avoid his captors' satisfactions of seeing him suffer. However, this beating was somehow far worse than ever before and Killian didn't know if he had the strength to fight against the anguish welling up within him with every strike as Hades continued, over and over again._

 _"Come on, Captain," Hades mockingly called out from behind him as he struck the whip across Killian's back again. "Cry out for me. I know you want to. This is no ordinary lash, which I'm sure you've begun to discover by now. It's special. It was given to me by my younger brother, Zeus, for the souls of mine that truly deserve the foul fate they receive from the evils they committed in life. But I'm not good like my brother. I have no compassion and so every soul who has entered my realm, whether they are bad or not, will suffer as I have. This whip, it's embedded with the bone shards of the Titans who died in a great war a long, long time ago before I was banished here by Zeus and the rest of my family living on Mount Olympus. Each fragment, imbued with their own agony, their fear, their despair, their hate… to inflict the ultimate form of torment. It's quite delectable and intoxicating, isn't it?"_

 _"Go to hell!" Killian growled and then was struck once more._

 _Hades swiftly stepped forward and roughly grabbed the back of Killian's head by his hair as he answered angrily, "I'm already there, Captain. And now you're here with me and you will never be free. Gentlemen, take over for me. I have to go meet a Savior who is threatening my kingdom. Have fun."_

 _One of the thugs smiled as he took the lash from their Lord's hand, struck it across Hook's back again and then sneered, "With pleasure, Lord Hades. We'll make sure that he screams."_

All of a sudden, Killian gasped awake and desperately struggled to regain his sense of surroundings. He knew that he couldn't still be trapped down in the Underworld with Hades and this wasn't the first time he dreamt of being tortured by the God of the dead and his minions. He had this nightmare often since his resurrection and the dreams always felt real, but he hadn't dreamt of the Underworld for some time and Killian knew that Emma had come to save him and defeated the villain.

Killian's mind was so muddled because of the lingering anguish throughout his body, that it took longer than just by simply opening his eyes and looking around the room for him to remember he was really a prisoner being held in some condemned New York structure, being tortured by a monster without magical powers and a dangerous obsession.

Before he could try to figure out how long he had been unconscious for, or really try to break free again despite the impossibility of doing so, Killian became startled when a door opened and slammed closed again from an area in the room he couldn't see from where he was trussed up. His tormentor had returned from wherever he had disappeared to again and Killian just hoped that Emma was still safe. Thankfully, his concern for the woman he loved was right away laid to rest by the first words this dirty spoke to him again.

"Miss. Swan has certainly proven herself to be much more of a challenge for me than you were able to," Peters snidely said to Killian in frustration. "I went back down to the harbor and waited for her to show up, but she never did. Or if she was there, then your boat is tied off at a dock that's well hidden."

"You have no idea," Hook uttered weakly. "And she's a… ship, not a boat. As… for Emma, you won't find her unless… she wishes for you to."

Brennan nodded as he casually walked over to the defibrillator again and cranked up the dial to its lowest setting in order to emit the electricity again into his prisoner's chest as punishment for the pirate's smugness, causing Killian to cry out despite his best efforts not to. He left it on for about thirty seconds before finally turning the dial back off.

While Killian struggled to breathe through his pain, the officer pulled out his cell phone and then responded, "You're right about Emma. That is why I need to talk with her. I'm going to call her. I have to explain to her why I'm doing this. In the end, she will come to see that I'm doing her a favor by ridding her of you."

Killian looked at him strangely despite how much effort it was taking for him to simply hold his head up while he replied, "You seriously believe… I'm the madman, or a deranged maniac? Just list… listen to yourself. Can you not hear… hear how crazy you sound?"

"I'm not crazy!" Peters shouted angrily, then turned up the dial to its next highest setting to make Killian scream once more until he shut down the machine before he lost consciousness like earlier. "My ways of getting what I want may be immoral and against the law that I stand for whenever I put on this uniform and my badge. I may be sadistic, but I am not crazy. I may not win the woman you love over and she may hate me when I'm through with all of this. But no matter what happens, in the end… you will be dead and if she doesn't choose to see you as the monster you really are, then I'll just have to kill her too."

"You'll find she isn't easy to kill," the Savior's husband answered proudly. "If only you knew… all the villains who have tried, yet she's defeated them all. She will never give in… to the likes of you."

Brennan shook his head again while he looked at his phone screen and scrolled through the list of contacts until he came to Emma's name, then as he pushed it to call her, he coldly retorted, "We'll just have to see about that."

Meanwhile…

After leaving the police station, Emma was at a loss as to what to do next. A part of her wanted so badly to break into the shop that had once been owned by Walsh while they both had been living in New York in order to gather what she needed for a locator spell, then use it to find her husband and get out of the city all together. However, she couldn't just enchant one of Killian's personal belongings to find him.

She would expose magic to everyone she walked past if she were to follow after a ring or one of his leather jackets floating towards their previous owner as either of these possessions sought Killian out, like Emma had done with a shoe not that long ago to find Cinderella when she had been in trouble. And who knew if people would believe it was no more than a magic trick, as the people who saw the magic of the fountain upon it bringing her family back from the Land of Untold Stories believed that was. Killian wouldn't want her to expose magic, or the fact she had it within her to save him.

So, Emma was at a loss and finally she found herself sitting on a park bench within Central Park, the very bench she had chained Killian to when she had him arrested near the entrance to the zoo. She was lost in her thoughts until her phone buzzed in her coat pocket, but when she looked at the caller ID on it screen, the number wasn't one she recognized. When she answered the call, the voice that spoke on the other end of the line suddenly chilled her to the bone.

She knew right away that it was the monster who had taken her husband from her, as he uttered, "Hello again… Miss. Swan. I was hoping you'd answer. Don't hang up just yet."


	17. Chapter 17

Of Monsters & Men

Chapter Seventeen

Later that evening…

Officer Conway was enjoying the game between the two biggest rivals in all of baseball as the New York Yankees played the Boston Red Sox. After the fourth inning, he stood up from his seat down by the Yankees' dugout and left the field to get himself a hot dog and a beer, as he had become hungry. However, when he exited the stadium section his seat was in, Bill was surprised when his Captain appeared among the crowd, then began to walk towards him once their eyes met.

Conway spoke up first as he asked, "Captain… what are you doing here? And how did you find me?"

Lionel motioned for his officer to follow him to a quieter area within the stadium, then turned back around to him and replied, "It wasn't like you weren't bragging about where it was you would be sitting tonight at work earlier. I'm grateful you did because we really need to talk and it can't wait until after the game's over. I'm sorry."

"It's not a problem," the officer answered honestly and then continued to walk alongside Chapman as they made their way through the crowds to find themselves a place where they could talk privately. "The Yankees are down and my friends won't miss me. You know I always put work first. What's going on, Sir?"

"I need to know if you've noticed your partner acting… odd at all lately?" the police Captain questioned sullenly when they finally found a small café across the street from the stadium. "Or perhaps different than usual. Perhaps standoffish. It's really important that you tell me the truth here, Bill. A man's life might depend on it."

Lieutenant Conway looked at his friend with confusion while he responded, "No. I mean… Brennan has never been the most social guy I've ever had as my partner. We've never really gone out together after work, except for a few times to get a beer or two. He prefers to keep his life outside of work private and I've always respected that. What's this all about? Do you think he's in trouble? Is someone trying to hurt him?"

Chapman sighed and then reluctantly he replied, "Actually, I'm afraid it looks to be just the opposite. Something's been brought to my attention that has made me begin to question Peters' loyalty. If I'm right, someone might die unless we find your partner. And if I don't take the accusations made against him seriously, then this man will almost certainly die. I've tried contacting Officer Peters and he won't take my calls. I even went to his apartment to see if he was home, but he's not."

"Don't keep trying to sugarcoat it, Captain," Bill stated curtly. "Tell me straight. Who's in trouble and who accused Brennan of being involved?"

"You're right," Lionel answered with frustration and then lowered his voice as he continued. "Surely you remember, Emma Swan… from when I assigned her stalking case she brought to us over a year ago?"

Conway nodded as he responded, "Of course I remember her. She was a beautiful woman. Not to mention that the guy stalking her was dressed up in a strange Halloween costume and wore eyeliner. He also had a fake hand if I recall."

The Captain replied, "That's right. It turns out this guy wasn't stalking Miss. Swan after all and now they're married. She came by the station to see me earlier, shortly after you and Peters left. Her husband is missing and she strongly believes that your partner is the one who abducted him. I didn't believe it at first. And I don't want to believe it. But she came up with some pretty compelling arguments."

"What kind of arguments?" the lower ranking officer asked in disbelief. "Sir, Brennan is a good man and I trust him with my life. In fact, I have many times while out on the streets. I can't believe that he's some kind of killer. Her accusations are ridiculous. What kind of proof could she even have?"

"Nothing substantial, but she says there are witnesses to her husband's abduction who claim that your partner was his assailant," Chapman answered and then stood up again. "I'll be meeting with her in the morning to continue our conversation and to see what kind of witnesses they really are. I want you to come in early so you can be there too. Tell me, did Brennan happen to tell you where he was going to be tonight?"

Bill thought back to earlier that morning when his partner arrived at the station, then responded, "He only said that he had plans tonight with a woman. That's probably why Brennan isn't answering your calls. They might even be off somewhere where there isn't reception, or at a movie. She must be someone pretty special."

Lionel pulled out his cell phone in order check the reception on his own and then he replied, "You're probably right. But listen to me very carefully, Bill. I don't want you to tell your partner any of this. If any of Miss. Swan's… Jones's accusations turn out to have some truth to them, then at the very least Brennan deserves to hear the accusations from me. If he is guilty, I don't want him trying to run or to hurt anyone else trying to cover up his tracks. Besides, if he is I want to be the one to slap the cuffs on him, then lock him up and throw away the key. Do you understand my orders, Lieutenant?"

"Yes Sir, Captain," Officer Conway answered and then stood when his Captain turned to walk away. "I'll see you in the morning, Sir."

"Good," the man responded, then softened the sternness in his voice so that Conway would know that what he spoke next was with sincerity. "I'm sorry to have troubled you with all of this, Bill. I want to trust that your partner is the good man I believe him to be too. I promise I won't allow anyone to smear his name. Until tomorrow. Try to enjoy the rest of the game."

Conway watched as Captain Chapman walked away, then entered the stadium again to return to the cops within the precinct he had come to the game with, before they came out to look for him. He quickly ordered himself a hot dog and a beer as he planned to do, then walked back down to his seat as though nothing was wrong.


	18. Chapter 18

Of Monsters & Men

Chapter Eighteen

"You!" Emma stated angrily upon hearing Officer Peters' voice when he spoke to her kindly as though they were old friends. "Where's Killian, you son of a…?"

"Please, I can only imagine how angry you must be feeling right now, Emma," Brennan answered before she could finish, with a remorse he felt towards her because of her loss, not because of what he had done to the man she loved. "I ask that you hear me out and allow me to explain."

Emma stood up and looked all around her, expecting the cop to be somewhere nearby so he could watch her, then she responded more calmly, "There isn't anything you can say to me that justifies you kidnapping my husband. Where is he? How did you get my number?"

Peters turned his head towards his prisoner as he spoke again saying, "I copied your number from his phone into mine before I smashed it down at the harbor. As for the man whom you had me and my partner arrest for stalking you, he's here. And he's fine, I assure you. You have to understand that I'm doing this for you, Emma. Killian Jones is a criminal and a dangerous man. He's found a way to trick you into believing you love him. Maybe it's Stockholm syndrome, or maybe it's something like it, but you've been brainwashed somehow. If the law could fix this, I would use it, but we tried it the legal way and you only wound up helping him to escape it. So now I have to resort to a way I'm not too proud of. But I'm trying to save you."

 _"Swan?" Emma suddenly remembered Killian say to her with surprise, back when she had been taken prisoner by the Evil Queen until she escaped the dungeon while they were in her parents' past._

 _"Hook!" she replied happily upon seeing he had broken into Regina's castle with his sword drawn to try to rescue her with her father's, mother's, and Ruby's help._

 _Killian looked at her with disappointment as he exasperatingly asked, "What the hell are you doing? You're depriving me of a dashing rescue."_

 _Emma then answered smugly, "Sorry. The only one who saves me is me."_

"I don't need saving, least of all by you," she responded to the officer sternly. "I did once. For a long time, my life was one big disappointment after another and all I ever was, was an orphan. I eventually built up walls to block everyone out to avoid ever being hurt by anyone again. Then Killian came into my life and he broke them all down. He helped me to find my home and my family, showed me I could be loved and that I didn't have to be afraid of losing everything I cared about. He loved me… loves me, unconditionally. Just as I love him and always will. He's a good man and if you think that you're going to convince me otherwise, or convince him that he's the monster you believe him to be, then you're crazy. The only monster is you. What have you done to him?!"

"Like I told your so-called husband, I'm going to prove to him that he's a criminal who's undeserving of a woman as beautiful and strong-willed as you in anyway I can," Brennan answered cruelly, as Emma's stubbornness and refusal to understand what he was trying to do for her was beginning to wear on him enough to reach his breaking point. "Even if it means I have to torture him into submission. Do you really want to know what I've done to him? Why don't I just have him tell you."

Officer Peters held his phone against Killian's right ear and mouth and with a demanding tone he said, "Go ahead and tell her. Then tell her that you absurdly allowed yourself to become disillusioned into believing she loves you."

Killian glared at the man still before him until he simply turned his head away out of defiance without saying a word, despite hearing Emma fearfully whisper his name over the phone's speaker, then the dirty cop stated again angrily, "I had a feeling you'd refuse. I'm sorry you're forcing the woman you supposedly love to have to hear this, but it's for your own good as well as for hers."

It was then that Brennan turned up the dial on the defibrillator right away to the second setting as Killian's body writhed upon feeling the electricity again, but he bit his tongue and fought to keep from screaming for Emma's sake. This made his captor even angrier, so the officer cranked up the machine's power to its highest setting and Killian couldn't hold in his screams any longer as the anguish continued for nearly an entire minute before Peters finally shut it down. Killian collapsed in on himself against the wall when the pain subsided and this time, there was no merciful unconsciousness.

"Killian!" Emma cried out on the other end of the line to try to get the villain to stop whatever her husband's torment was, despite knowing that Officer Peters wouldn't be able to hear her. "Stop it! Killian!"

"I'm so sorry for all of this, Emma," Brennan finally continued to finish his conversation with the woman of his own dreams. "I'm not doing this to cause you pain. Truly I'm not. I can only hope that one day you'll thank me. If you really want me to set him free, the only way I'll do that is if he admits the truth I've already spoken, and you admit to yourself that you fell for him because he brainwashed you into falling in love with him. Meet me tomorrow morning at eight o'clock down at the entrance of the harbor and we can talk more in person aboard your boat that you and your lover disappear to every night. If you don't show up and make yourself willing to hear me out, I will kill him. Until then… Goodbye, Emma."

The Savior immediately collapsed onto the bench with her face in her hands when Peters hung up on her and for the first time since Killian's abduction, Emma allowed herself to break down as tears fell from the corners of her eyes and down her cheeks. Her own pain from having to listen to her husband scream out was overwhelmingly unbearable. The few people who were also in the park to see the animals in the zoo passed by her without saying a word, but she could feel them staring at her strangely as they did so and she didn't care.

However, while she was crying someone finally did stop and took a seat on the bench beside her as he tenderly laid a hand on Emma's back, then spoke up quietly saying, "Try not to fear for the one proven to be your true love, Emma. Did you forget you are not the only one with magic here in this city?"

Emma immediately sat up and was surprised to see the Dragon sitting with her, then she quickly wiped her tears away as she questioned, "What are you doing here?"

"Because I sensed the strong magic of a Savior upon your arrival and I have somewhat been keeping my eyes on you ever since," the powerful being responded calmly.

"If that's true, why didn't you come to us before?" she asked again angrily. "Why did you allow Killian to be taken by a sadistic killer if there was something you could have done to prevent it?"

The Dragon looked into her red stained eyes from her crying while he replied, "Why have you not used your own powers to save him yet, when every part of you wishes to do so because you know that you can?"

Emma sighed in frustration and then answered, "Because Killian wouldn't want me to risk exposing myself and magic just for him. And because his life is no longer the only one at stake. Two children here have also been threatened and used by the cop who's taken my husband. I promised them I would help them and the only way I can do that is to lawfully make this monster pay for his crimes. Magic can't do that. I'm sorry. I don't mean to act as though you're to blame for anything that's happened. You're not. I'm just…"

"Scared for the man you love," he responded for her before she could finish. "I understand. As for why I haven't come until now to offer my assistance, it's because I fear my time has been much occupied with someone else in far greater need of my powers. But I haven't come empty handed. I've come to offer you a gift."

"It's the compass from the Enchanted Forest," the Savior said with surprise as the Dragon pulled the beautiful golden instrument that she and Killian had long ago climbed a beanstalk to collect so she and her mother could return home. "I don't understand. How is this supposed to help me now? I thought it only helps to guide someone through a portal? How do you even have this?"

The Dragon gently laid it into Emma's hands, then replied, "You have Regina's former evil doppelganger to thank for this. But that perhaps is a story for another time. Trust in your heart and you will know the answer to your question in time. Let your love for your husband guide you. And have faith in yourself to save him, as well as to be the Savior for these children as you have been for your loved ones."

Emma lowered her eyes to the compass as she sincerely whispered, "Thank you. With all my heart, thank you."


	19. Chapter 19

Of Monsters & Men

Chapter Nineteen

The next morning…

Captain Lionel Chapman arrived at the police station even earlier than he normally did any other morning on account that he couldn't sleep the night before because the more he thought of the accusations made against one of his own men whom the Captain considered a friend, the less he could shake his concern that Emma might be right about the officer. Lionel didn't know Emma for nearly as long as the men under his charge, but he still trusted her judgment and her instincts more than most of them for one big reason above the rest.

Emma once helped him out of a jam he found himself in while she lived in New York when a defense lawyer from one of his old cases had slandered his good name by accusing him of destroying evidence on multiple occasions on the false words of a client. She stumbled into his case when it was discovered the same client had skipped bail in another state. That was why Captain Chapman struggled with who to trust now. He wanted to trust Officer Peters, but he owed it to Emma to save her husband from whoever really did kidnap him.

Before he could think any more on it, Officer Conway arrived early and walked into his office as he spoke up saying, "Good morning, Captain. I hope I'm not late."

Lionel motioned for the man to take a seat in the chair in front of his desk and then he responded, "You're just on time. Actually, I don't think we really had a set time I asked you to be here. Did you enjoy the rest of the game?"

"The Yankees lost to the Red Sox again," Bill answered in frustration. "Do you think I enjoyed it? Sorry, Sir, but the game isn't why we're here. When do you expect Miss. Swan?"

"It's Miss. Jones now, remember?" his Captain replied quickly. "With her husband missing, Emma's devastated. You need to be very careful with what you say to her. I know that you want to defend your partner, but you can't go off accusing her of creating false accusations against Lieutenant Peters, or anything else you might be thinking."

The lower ranking officer nodded, then responded, "Of course, Captain. I've talked with victims' families a number of times. I think I can handle talking with a woman whose husband has been kidnapped."

Chapman nodded and then stated, "As for when she'll be here, I'm not sure. We only discussed her coming in some time this morning. I assumed she'd come in right away because of how agitated she was yesterday. If she doesn't arrive by eight, I'll give her a call, but she'll be here. I'm sure of it."

Down at the harbor…

Eight o'clock came and Emma made her way to the entrance of the harbor to meet up with Brennan Peters as he demanded before she could even object. The docks had already begun to become crowded by people arriving to go out on the river in their boats, jet skis, etc.… It was a Saturday, so it was busier than the rest of the days they had been there. She looked around for an officer in his blues and only saw those who worked security at the harbor. Emma didn't expect the dirty cop to come out of uniform.

"You're looking beautiful this morning, Miss. Swan," Brennan said quietly when he cautiously walked up behind her, but failed to avoid Emma's fist as she immediately spun around and punched him so that he fell to the ground, just as she had done to Isaac while in the former Author's alternate reality.

"Cut the bullshit!" the Savior answered furiously, though she kept her voice low so as to not draw more attention to them than she already had. "If you thought meeting with me in person so we can talk things through while you tried to justify why you've kidnapped and tortured my husband, you're the one who's delusional."

Peters looked at her with regret while he replied snidely, "Your husband is the one who threatened your parents and spoke of curses and some magical kingdom as though he believes in fairytales. Don't forget, he tried to offer you some kind of drug or poison before to bring back your memories you claim you forgot all that time."

Emma threatened to slap his cheek again until Brennan grabbed her wrist, then she responded angrily, "Whatever you heard Killian tell me that day in the surveillance van was all taken out of context. And it wasn't poison in that vial he offered me. But none of this matters right now. Where is he? What have you done to him?"

"We shouldn't be talking out here so out in the open," he answered as he started to pull Emma along with him closer to the boats docked within the harbor. "We can talk more easily aboard your boat."

"Right here in public is the only place I'm willing to speak with you unless you'd rather join me in a cab as we head to your precinct so you can confess everything to your Captain," she curtly retorted, looked down at her phone in her hands as it buzzed and she saw it was the police Captain she just spoke of, then held it up for Peters to see for himself. "This is him now. He's calling to find out why I haven't shown up at the station yet. I spoke with him last night and told him all about the monster you really are."

Officer Peters glared at the woman before him while he replied, "Chapman will never believe you over me. You knew him for barely a year when you were here. I've known him for eleven years, after being a cop for twenty-nine. He and all the rest of the men and women I've worked with since then… they trust me exponentially. You won't be able to ruin all of the hard work I've put in to make this city a safer place to live."

The Savior responded, "You'd be surprised by the things I can do. Why did you even want to meet with me? You can't really be so naïve to believe that a few kind words spoken by you and I would simply dump the man I love more than anyone else in this whole world, after all we've been through together. I went to hell to save him and fought against two hundred years of darkness and the hate of a villain far worse than you could ever be, all because I love him and he loves me. I am terrified of the condition I'll find him in now because of the torment you've inflicted upon him, but you don't scare me."

"I asked you here because I wanted to see you and to look into your eyes when I spoke to you to see if you were lying about any of the things you said over the phone," Brennan coldly answered her, then he reached into one of his jeans' pockets and pulled out something small in the palm of his hand.

"Telling when someone's lying is one of my gifts," Emma replied. "You really are that naïve."

The officer finally revealed the silver band he was concealing in his hand and held it up for Emma to see, then he spoke up again saying cruelly, "Since you really feel that way and there's nothing more I can say or do that will convince you that man isn't deserving of you, I thought you might want to have his wedding ring back. It will probably be the only thing you'll have left of his when I'm finished and he either realizes the truth and decides to do right by you by letting you go, or he gets himself killed."

All of a sudden, Peters pulled out his service weapon and fired multiple shots into the air in order to create a panic among the crowds surrounding them, then he ran through them so he could disappear before Emma could do anything to stop him or chase after him. She cursed under her breath and then immediately rushed to the streets to hail herself a cab.

As she climbed into the backseat, the driver looked back at his fare through the rearview mirror and asked callously, "Where to?"

"The thirty-fifth precinct," Emma responded, then having used her magic to answer Captain Chapman's phone call without Peters' knowledge while they had been talking, she raised the phone to her ear and mouth. "I'm sorry that you had to find out about your man this way, Lionel, but please tell me you have all the proof you need to at least know I'm speaking the truth."

"I certainly heard enough," the police Captain answered miserably and with bitter disappointment over the fact that she had been right about one of his friends being the dirty cop she had said he was. "I also heard the shots fired. Was anyone hurt? Are you alright?"

The Savior stared down at the ring in her hand and uttered, "I'm fine. And no, no one else was hurt either. But Peters got away before I could stop him. He only fired a few shots so he could run without me being able to follow him. I'm on my way to the precinct now. We need to find him. And when we do, we'll find Killian too."

Lionel replied, "We will. I'm so sorry again, Emma. Not just because your husband's been taken, but because it was one of the men under my charge who took him and is holding him prisoner. I told you I don't tolerate betrayal. I will do whatever it takes to bring him down."


	20. Chapter 20

Of Monsters & Men

Chapter Twenty

Killian was awakened again from the agonizing slumber he slipped into after his latest round of torture as the room's door suddenly crashed open, then slammed closed when the cop returned from going out to confront his wife. He had heard a majority of the conversation between Peters and Emma, including when the villain had told her to meet with him at the harbor. Killian knew she could take care of herself better than he could do for himself, especially against a villain without magic. Yet he couldn't help, but fear the officer would get the better of her too because of her fear for him.

When Officer Peters finally appeared in his line of sight from where he was still chained up against the wall, Hook watched with dread as the man came into the room with an unconscious woman in his arms, a slender woman with long blonde hair that had fallen over her face while the cop carried her, and immediately Killian's fear that he would capture Emma too manifested as he began to fight against his chains and cried out at his captor in a fit of anger despite his pain.

"What the hell have you done to her, you bloody bastard?" Killian shouted.

"I'm doing what I have to do," Brennan curtly replied as he laid the woman down on the ground long enough to grab a chair that had been sitting in the corner of the room and set it down in front of his first prisoner, then set her into it while he began to bind her wrists and ankles to the chair's arms and legs using zip ties the cop had taken from his back pocket. "I gave you all the chances I could to get you to tell me what I wanted to hear. Now you've forced me to resort to drastic measures I didn't want to take."

When he finished tying her down, Peters lifted her head back against the chair and pulled her hair away from her face to reveal Killian that this woman wasn't Emma like he thought she was, then the criminal spoke up again saying, "It's uncanny, isn't it? Just how much she looks like your love until you actually get a better look at her face. She's not nearly as beautiful as Emma is, but she's the same height, of the same build, and she even has the same hair color and style. I got this idea while I was speaking to your wife down at the harbor. I really would have preferred to bring Emma here, but I didn't have a chance. I had to get out of there while I could."

Killian stared at the stranger's slackened face as he asked, "Who is she? And why have you brought her here?"

"She used to be my partner, until she got promoted to detective and I didn't," Brennan responded as he stepped back and then turned around to look up at Killian. "We got along just fine most of the time, but we weren't ever friends and I never liked her enough to think more of her other than as my partner. I was lucky enough to remember she always took a walk down by the docks every morning around this time, so I found her and stunned her like I did you. As for why I brought her here… I'm not ready to give up on what I need from you. You're going to admit the truth. Because if you refuse one more time, I will kill her right here in front of you."

"You would really kill someone who used to be your partner in order to get me to confess to whatever sins you imagine I've committed?" Hook asked in disbelief while he stared down at the sadistic killer before him.

Peters knelt down in front of the woman and began to tap the side of her face to try to bring her around while he answered, "Emma's spoken to my Captain about what I've done. It won't be easy to convince him I'm guilty, but I know that she won't give up until she succeeds and then my life as a New York City cop will be over. I have to make all I've done up until this point worth all I'm about to lose."

When the detective finally did come to, she suddenly became startled when she saw her former partner's face in front of her, then upon remembering being down at the docks for her morning run, she struggled to break free of the ties upon seeing that she was bound to a chair in a rundown, torn up room as she fearfully cried out, "Brennan? What the hell is going on? Where am I? Why am I zip tied to this chair?"

"I'm afraid you're only here to make my point to a prisoner I apprehended yesterday morning," the dirty cop replied almost remorsefully, then looked around him until he saw Killian's hook on the floor sticking out from beneath his leather jacket, then leaned down to pick it up. "I'm sorry I have to do this to you, Evie. I really am. But if this criminal here had just admitted what he is and that he's undeserving of the life he's found for himself, with the good woman he brainwashed into loving him… He's the one you should be blaming for what I've been forced to do."

"My God, what have you done to him?" Officer Eve Cameron asked upon seeing Killian chained to the wall with the electrodes still taped to his chest behind her former partner when he stepped aside to allow her to. "If this man's a criminal, you're supposed to bring him into the station, not here in some kind of torture chamber."

Killian responded, "Well you see, he couldn't exactly do that because the reason he's doing all of this is for a woman who doesn't… and will never love him. My wife. Your friend here can't stand that she and I are in love. So now we're both here."

Brennan glared at Killian until he walked around the chair and suddenly gripped the woman roughly by her hair as he yanked her head back, then he said angrily, "I'm tired of listening to your arrogance and your bravado. Admit the truth about what you are, or I swear that I will kill her. Tell me you don't deserve, Emma!"

"Okay, you're right!" Killian finally shouted when he heard the detective gasp and cry out in fear as Peters positioned the tip of his hook against her throat. "All right? Is that what you wanted to hear? I don't deserve Emma. She deserves a far better man than me. Good men who were worthy of her died and I survived. It wasn't fair. Because I was a villain in my life. My very long life. Believe me, I regret all the terrible things I've done, some more than others. For years, I hated the man I had become because I was hellbent on revenge on one man. Revenge was my obsession, but Emma saved me. And I don't mean just my life, but my heart. She made me see the error of my ways and showed me I could be the man she could fall in love with. At last, after fighting so hard to change, I became a man I could be proud of, a man I could look at in the mirror and be able to look back. That is why I fell in love with her. I have made terrible mistakes in my life, but I atoned for them. And I will keep on atoning for them for as long as I live."

Officer Peters looked at Hook with astonishment as he stated, "Wow. That was better than I expected from you. You talk as though you've killed before. Have you? Are you a murderer?"

Killian looked into the frightened woman's eyes while he answered remorsefully, "Yes, I have killed. I am a murderer. And their deaths… are my biggest regrets."

"Then let this innocent woman be another one of your many so-called regrets," Brennan responded cruelly when he suddenly thrust the hook into her chest to kill her, as Detective Cameron screamed out and cried in pain upon him doing so. "Her blood is now on your hands, or hand, too."

"No… Why did you have to kill her?!" Hook asked angrily. "I told you all that you wanted!"

Peters answered, "Because you left me no choice. I couldn't just release her. And you need to understand there are consequences to your defiance. I did warn you. Besides, I'm not through with you yet. You gave me what I wanted to hear, but I expect Emma will come for you soon. She's definitely as resilient as you keep saying she is. I thought I would kill you once you confessed, but after Emma's own defiance, I want you to be alive when she finds you. Just long enough so that she'll be forced to see the light go out in your eyes."

All of a sudden, the dirty cop thrust the hook still stained with Detective Cameron's blood deep into Killian's right shoulder, causing Killian to scream and then Peters sneered, "It won't be long now."

He yanked the hook out of his prisoner's flesh again a few minutes later and Killian hardly gave so much as a moan. His head collapsed to his chest as he struggled to breathe through the agony and he didn't try to lift it up again, not even when he felt as Peters ripped off the electrodes from his body, then unlocked the shackles binding him to the wall before allowing him to fall to the ground.

Killian rolled over weakly onto his back and fought to keep his eyes open, then Brennan's face appeared above him as the sadist began to tend to the ugly wound left behind by the metal that he himself had used a number of times before in the same fashion while still a monster himself.


	21. Chapter 21

Of Monsters & Men

Chapter Twenty-One

Meanwhile…

When Emma walked into the precinct again, the station was in an uproar as a number of officers were running around the bullpen while looking through past case files and boxes that appeared to be from the evidence room involving Peters, and making phone calls, then before she could make her way towards her old friend's office, Captain Chapman stepped out while he shouted, "If anyone receives a tip or lead on Brennan Peters' whereabouts, I want to know about it right away. He's holding an innocent man prisoner. Our main priority is to find and save this man's life. If you find out where the son of a bitch is hiding out, no one is to go in to try to apprehend Officer Peters without me being present, or at the very least without clearing it with me first if you feel you have no choice. Is this understood?"

Most of the men simply nodded at their Captain's orders, while a few of them answered in unison, "Yes, sir!"

"Emma!" Lionel suddenly called out to her when he saw his friend slowly making her way through the chaos, as he motioned for her to join him in his office like she had before.

"Emma, you remember Officer Conway… Peters' partner?" he continued as soon as she walked into the room, closed the door behind her while she took a seat in the chair where Bill was sitting moments before when he stood and offered it to her, then sat down in the other chair beside her.

The Savior nodded as she replied, "I remember you very well, Officer Conway. From the case I brought to you back then."

The lower ranking officer stood nearby as he responded, "Yes. I understand that you since learned the man you believed had been stalking you was innocent. And that since then the two of you married. Let me just say, I'm so sorry about your husband's abduction. I promise you, I had nothing to do with his disappearance. I had no idea my partner was dirty even though I've been working with him for the last four, nearly five years. I should have noticed something was off with him."

"We don't always see the things that are right there in front of us," Emma answered him in understanding. "Especially when they're those who are closest to us. I know this only too well. Time and time again, I tried to push Killian away because he was a different man when I first met him. Over time, I began to see him change into the man he is now, but I continued to deny my feelings for him because I was afraid of being hurt. Fortunately for me, he never stopped fighting for me, fighting for us. The same is true in circumstances such as yours, Officer Conway. I know that firsthand too."

"Please, call me Bill," he quickly replied.

Lionel sat down behind his desk and turned to Emma again while he spoke up again saying, "Yes, there's certainly no need to be formal in here. Now, I assure you that we're doing everything we can to find Officer Peters and where he might have taken your husband. I've got most of the precinct working on locating him. We've put out a BOLO for him, I've sent men down to the harbor to talk to witnesses who might have seen something you didn't, my men here are going through his past case files and any old evidence as well to see if there's somewhere listed among it all that could be the place he's hiding out. We're also trying to track him through his phone, though I suspect he's already ditched it. So far, we haven't found anything, as we've only just begun. But we have already discovered some key pieces of evidence missing that we never knew about before, which makes me suspect it was Peters who stole the evidence in the case you helped me out with. When you were talking with him, Emma… did he say anything to you? Anything that might give you an idea where he might be now?"

She shook her head as she responded, "Not that I know of. And this morning wasn't the first I've spoken with him either. He called me last night to set up our meeting at the harbor. He said he had taken my number from Killian's phone when he took him, then smashed it. I found the broken pieces on one of the docks the morning I first came to talk to you; yesterday. While I spoke with him, Peters was torturing Killian. It sounded like he was electrocuting him in some way. I could hear Killian screaming. I have no idea what condition we'll find my husband in when we find him, but we have to. We've been through far too much together for me to lose him now. We're on… or we were on our honeymoon."

"I know how difficult this must be," the Captain remorsefully answered. "I don't doubt that if there's anyone who can find him, it'll be you. These witnesses you said you spoke to yesterday, do you believe they'd be willing to come in to talk with us? I can have Bill here and a few other men go down to pick them up."

"You will need my help to talk with the homeless kids living out in the old boathouse at the harbor," Emma replied worryingly. "They don't trust easily and they're shy. Honestly, I'm amazed they trusted me, but I think I can help you with them. As for the other two… the couple who witnessed Peters kidnapping my husband, if you can assure them you'll listen to them and promise not to dismiss them because the boyfriend has a record, I'm sure they would be willing to help you too. They can all collaborate my story."

Chapman sat up a little as he responded, "Thankfully their sides of the story aren't necessary right now as we work to try to find Peters. Is there anything else you can tell us?"

She shook her head in frustration as she answered, "I only know that he's been stalking us ever since we ran into him on the street outside of the theater Killian and I came out of after seeing Wicked. Peters saw me and came up to talk. Killian had walked away to get us a cab, but when he came back to me, Peters' face turned cold and I knew then something was wrong, just as Killian did too, but again we shrugged it off until we were mugged a few nights later. These thugs made it clear they were hired to attack us and one of them called my husband a deranged maniac like Killian told me Peters had said when he interrogated Killian last year after I had him arrested. I told you all of this already."

"Yes, and just so you know, I've put out a BOLO for them as well," Lionel replied. "It's a long shot and I doubt they'll be of much help, but perhaps with the right push, they'll tell us whatever the hell they know."

"Peters has become obsessed with proving both to me and to Killian that he's a criminal and that he doesn't deserve to live happily with me," Emma continued sadly as she stared down at her hands resting on her lap. "Killian and I moved back to our home in Maine where we lived before I lost my memories, but I guess Peters' obsession returned when he saw us outside of the theater. He thinks I would leave Killian if Killian were to admit he's a criminal and I were to open my eyes and see him as a monster Peters believes him to be. Your man thinks he's trying to save me."

Emma was suddenly interrupted as one of the other officer knocked and opened the door as he stated quickly, "Sir, men have just apprehended one of the men believed to be involved in the mugging. He was found in a hospital with a dislocated shoulder and a broken arm."

When the officer left and closed the door again, Emma responded, "They attacked us down in the subway. Killian and I defended ourselves against them. The man I fought was knocked out and his friends left him behind. I can tell you for sure if you have one of them or not."

"All right, but give us some time to get him into a lineup," Captain Chapman answered as he stood up to leave, along with Officer Conway. "We need to do this properly, otherwise this thug's lawyer will have the means to get him off. Wait right here."

"Thank you, Lionel," she said quietly as he was about to close the door to leave her alone.

He nodded and replied, "You're welcome, Emma. Try not to worry. We'll find your husband."

The Savior responded, "I know we will."

Emma sat back against her chair and waited nervously for the Captain to come back to get her. After a few minutes, she raised her hand up to her neck, then reached down beneath her blouse to pull out the chain she still wore that held the ring Killian had given her in Camelot once belonging to his brother, and now held her husband's wedding band on it as well until she could find him and give it back to him once he was safe.

She stared at the two rings for several minutes, when she strangely felt a pulsing from her coat pocket as Emma quickly reached in to pull out the gold compass she still carried since the Dragon had given it to her the night before and was surprised to see its arrows spinning, faster and faster until she suddenly became bombarded by what felt like one of her visions from before she had fought the final battle. Only she knew this vision was different, as she could first see flashes of Killian lying barely conscious upon the ground of some rundown building, then of the dirty cop who had taken him as he knelt over her husband to tend to a wound in his shoulder Emma could hardly see.

The flashes all happened so fast, but before she could try to make sense of anything she was seeing, magic burst from the face of the compass into her mind and when the power dissipated again, Emma somehow knew exactly where Killian was being held and how to find him. She glanced down at the compass again and saw it was back to as it was before its power ignited, then turned her head to look out into the bullpen through the room's window to see if anyone else had seen anything, but it appeared that no one had.

Again, her heart was telling her to use her magic to transport herself to Killian, but her mind told her she needed to somehow convince Chapman and Conway she knew where to find her husband and Peters. The problem would be how to do so without exposing magic, as has been her trouble all along. She needed their help to save Killian and to stop Peters, so he would go down once and for all, and no longer be a threat to anyone. Luckily, Emma always had a few tricks up her sleeves.


	22. Chapter 22

Of Monsters & Men

Chapter Twenty-Two

Over two years ago when Hook first arrived Storybrooke…

 _"Because you'll find him, and when you do, I'll be here waiting for you when you get back," Belle said to Gold quietly while they stood before one another at the town line, but as the two lovers leaned close to embrace, a shot from behind them suddenly rang out and Belle fell forward across the town line into Gold's arms, causing magic to surge through her._

 _"I wouldn't count on it," Hook sneered as he stood behind them with a smoking gun in his hand that was pointed in their direction, having been the one to shoot the innocent woman naively in love with the Dark One._

 _While the beauty gasped in pain and confusion as he held her close to him, Gold fearfully cried out, "Belle?! Belle? Belle!"_

 _When he lowered Belle to the ground, she looked up at him with confusion and a terrified look on her face as she asked, "Who's Belle?"_

 _"Oh, no," Gold stuttered in disbelief as he looked down at her blood in his hands, then back over at his enemy who had hurt her. "Oh, no, no, no…"_

 _"Oh, fear not," Hook cruelly responded, continuing to point the gun at the monster he saw before him. "She'll live. She'll just have no idea who you are."_

 _The Dark One turned back to the woman he loved lying wounded on the road as he despondently replied, "What you've done cannot be undone."_

 _The pirate shouted angrily, "Well, now you finally know how it feels!"_

 _"Well, go ahead, crocodile," Hook then added as he put his arms out to his sides in effort to taunt the older man when Gold looked up at him once again with a look of hate and a lust to kill him in his eyes with every expectation and yearning to die at his hand as he had killed Milah as well. "Do your worst!"_

 _"Oh, I intend to," the Dark One responded cruelly after he lifted Belle back across the town line and then ignited a fireball into the palm of his hand to project it at Hook until all of a sudden, a car from the outside world came barreling towards them and Gold managed to pull himself and Belle out of the way, while Hook wasn't so lucky as the car hit him head on and flung him over its roof and to the ground._

Killian was then startled back to the present after he had fallen into the back of his mind and into a memory of a time when he too had hurt another innocent woman to get revenge on the man who cared most for her, until Killian's abductor and tormentor suddenly and purposefully pushed down against the deep wound within his shoulder made by his own hook in order to rouse his attention and to get him to cry out once more. Officer Peters had poorly tended to and bandaged his shoulder to keep him from bleeding out too fast, but he certainly didn't hold back from continuing to elicit pain from his latest victim, or mocking Killian by refusing to tie him up knowing that Killian was far too weak.

Brennan glared down at him as he stated cruelly, "Now isn't the time to fall asleep or even to lose consciousness. Don't you believe the woman you love will come for you any longer? Whether she does or she doesn't, it doesn't really matter to me, however, I truly hope she does."

Killian fought against his pain while he glared at the man kneeling over him and answered weakly, "Why… Why is that? Because you wish her… to find me alive, just long enough to see me die? You've already said as such. Stop with your inane chat… chatter. I know what you want. In time, you will discover… you won't get it. Villains… don't get their happy endings."

"Boy oh boy," Peters replied as he shook his head with disbelief and continued to push down on the wound he created. "You really have some kind of obsession with talking in fairytales. If it wasn't for my need to make you pay for your crimes outside of the law, I would have arrested you and thrown you into the loony bin. You call me crazy, yet the way you talk makes you sound far crazier than me. Tell me about some of your kills. They say confession is good for the soul."

"Go to hell," Hook answered curtly. "I won't in… dulge your delusions about the… sort of man I am by con… confessing to sins I've already atoned for. I don't have… to justify my past to you."

The dirty cop stood up again while he kept his eyes down on his prisoner and then suddenly stomped down on Killian's only hand lying on the cold, hard floor beside him, hearing the crunch signifying that the bones had been broken and Killian let out only a whimper, being barely able to hold in the cry of pain he refused to release so that his captor would have the satisfaction. Besides, he had felt worse when the Crocodile had cut off his hand entirely and even then, he only let out a small cry so as to not give Rumplestiltskin the same glee from seeing him suffer from the agony.

Brennan turned back to the defibrillator, cranked up the dial one final time to turn the machine on to its highest setting and carefully reached down to pick up one of the electrodes where the wire was protected by the thick plastic casing. Then, he grabbed Killian by his hair and lifted his upper body off the floor as he was about to lay the open wire against his chest, but before Officer Peters could, he was suddenly interrupted when a charge of NYPD officers broke into the room lead by Captain Lionel Chapman and Peters' former partner, Conway, as the highest ranking officer shouted for him to stand down and let his prisoner go.

Brennan swiftly dropped the electrode and roughly lifted Killian up between him and the cops all pointing their guns at him to use his hostage as a shield, rested his own service weapon against Killian's temple, then he called out, "Stand down! All of you. You too, Captain. I will kill him."

Lionel glared coldly at the man he had trusted until the moment he learned his friend was dirty as he responded, "You know we can't do that, Brennan. Drop your gun and let him go before this gets any worse. Please don't force us to kill you."

"Send the rest of the men out," Peters replied curtly. "That includes you too, Bill. I will only talk to you, Captain. You and Emma. I'm betting she's waiting outside somewhere close by? Call her in."

"I won't risk her life needlessly," Chapman answered firmly. "I'll send your partner and the rest of the men out, but…"

Officer Peters interrupted, "Her husband's life is at stake! If you and her want to see that he comes out of this alive, you will call her in."

Conway stared at his old partner in disbelief while he asked, "Bren… what the hell do you think you're doing? I thought we were friends."

"We were, but you didn't see how poorly our laws protect the truly innocent people like I do," Brennan coldly responded while Lionel motioned for the rest of the men with them to leave the building as the dirty cop requested, then did the same with Officer Conway. "Criminals like this bastard here are always getting off and it's wrong. Their blood-sucking lawyers free them on account of small technicalities or because of false accusations of police misconduct, or because they're paid well to get their clients off any dirty way they can. Aren't you tired of seeing good people die at the hands of monsters like this son of a bitch, Sir?"

Lionel sadly looked down at Detective Cameron's body still bound to the chair she had been killed in until he turned to Killian, who was struggling to even keep his eyes open or stay standing due to the strain his current position Peters was forcing upon his body, then he turned back to his officer as he slowly lowered his gun to the ground and replied, "Believe me, I am sick of it, but we can only do as our laws allow us to, or we become no better than the criminals we fight to bring to justice. That's all you've accomplished here, Brennan. This man you've tortured is an innocent man. Cameron was an innocent as well, yet you killed her too. She used to be your partner, for God sakes!"

"I had no choice!" Peters furiously shouted. "This man isn't as innocent as Emma pretends him to be. He's a murderer. He's even admitted it. He's just going to get off because I made him a victim? How is that fair?! Emma needs to see him as the man he really is and then he needs to pay!"

"If he's admitted that to you, then it was only because he is under duress and you know that," his Captain continued, as Emma cautiously appeared beside him and kept her hand over her mouth to keep from gasping at the terrifying sight of her wounded husband being held with a gun against his head and barely conscious. "For the last time, just let him go. Please, Brennan. I really don't want to have to kill you."

The dirty cop shook his head and scoffed as he then turned his gun on Lionel, then he answered, "And I hate that I have no choice, but to kill you… like I'm about to kill Emma and her murderer."

Peters' finger locked on the trigger and he was about to fire, when Killian used what little strength he had left to reach out to grab hold of the live wire still hanging down from the machine beside them, then suddenly forced it up against his captor's throat, as the electric charge carried through both of their bodies and both men screamed out. Lionel raced over to the defibrillator to shut down the power while Emma cried her husband's name as she rushed over to Killian when he collapsed all the way to the floor unconscious once the machine was off on account of already being so weak. Brennan fell to the ground as well, but he remained lucid while his Captain roughly pulled him over onto his stomach and cuffed his wrists behind his back.

Emma wept while she held Killian tightly against her body as if to offer him little comfort, as the Captain immediately shouted through the radio for his men to re-enter and pulled out his phone to call for the paramedics to enter. He quickly ordered Conway and another of the officers surrounding him to take Brennan Peters outside to wait for his own ambulance, then turned back to Emma and Killian as he knelt down beside them. The rest of the men took their former colleague away.

He spoke up again quietly saying, "I'm so sorry, Emma. I've never seen anything like that before. Your husband's bravery I mean. I've seen my men take bullets for other officers and other people of course, but… he willingly took thousands of volts of electricity into himself in order to stop that bastard and end this. He saved my life. If there's anything I can do for him or for you, just say the word. I owe him my life. I will repay this debt."

Chapman took off his coat and pressed it against the wound in Killian's shoulder in order to stifle the blood once again pouring out through the makeshift bandage Peters had crudely wrapped over it before. He had seen that the wound was similar to the wound left behind in Cameron's chest, but he was too busy trying to help his friend keep her husband alive, that Lionel didn't think to look around the room for any sign of the weapon used to hurt him and to kill his former detective.

Emma noticed the similarities in the wounds as well and knew what Peters had used to make them. So, while the police Captain was distracted, she looked around the room for Killian's hook, knowing that if the police were to find it, they'd see it as a part of the crime scene and it would be collected for evidence. She found it lying on the floor beside his brace and clothes stripped from him, as she quickly used her magic to poof them back to the Jolly Roger. Peters had joked to Killian about having a hook for a hand, but the rest of the force wouldn't see it as such.

One of the paramedics reached out to touch Emma's shoulder and informed her it was time to load Killian into the ambulance, that she needed to let go of him so they could care of him. They then carried him out to the ambulance and when they pulled out, Lionel drove as he and Emma followed close behind them.


	23. Chapter 23

Of Monsters & Men

Chapter Twenty-Three

Over the course of the next few days, Emma sat with Killian in the hospital while he slipped in and out of consciousness, mostly remaining asleep due to the morphine and other treatments the doctors had given him for his pain. His wife hardly left his side, not even to return to the Jolly Roger to sleep herself because she was afraid to leave him, especially if he were to wake disoriented and afraid. What little sleep she had gotten was while sitting up uncomfortably in the chair beside his bed or as she gently laid her upper body over his, careful not to disturb his injuries or the many tubes giving his body the drugs he needed and hooking him up to the machines helping to measure his vitals.

When his doctor finally came out to talk to the patient's wife about Killian's condition, she began by telling Emma that the wound in Killian's shoulder was deep and his flesh and muscle were severely torn when he was stabbed through by his hook. Killian had lost a lot of blood by the time the paramedics arrived at the hospital through New York City's traffic, despite their best efforts to keep him stable. Thankfully, the hospital had plenty of his blood type on hand and the doctors were able to give him a couple of transfusions to help replenish his blood. His only hand was broken in three places and fractured in several more, so it had to be bound and splinted so it could heal properly, though the damage to it was extensive. The worst of his trauma however, was by far the electric shocks he had received from the defibrillator. Emma and Lionel had only witnessed the final shock when Killian protected them from Peters, but the doctors confirmed his body and heart had suffered far worse through a number of them, and that his heart was severely damaged.

On top of all that, Killian had become caught up in nightmares that were once again plaguing his mind as his trauma undoubtedly brought back old memories of pain, as well as of regrets and hate. Emma knew this because she had seen it many times before, especially after his return from the Underworld. When he would become trapped within a dream, his brow would crease, his hand trembled, and when they were especially bad, he would toss and turn before finally bursting awake in a cold sweat. The treatments he had received since arriving in the hospital prevented most of these signs from showing outwardly, but Emma knew from contours of his face, as she knew every part of him. The doctors told her he was suffering from PTSD and that with help from her as well as from a psychiatrist, Killian would be able to recover in time so long as he survived his injuries.

Late one evening, Lionel came to see how Killian and Emma were holding up as he brought her some food, knowing that she's barely eaten much at all since her husband had first been taken nearly a week ago. When he entered the room after knocking on the door, he found Emma leaning over Killian as she tenderly caressed the sides of his face after he had become snared up in another nightmare, in order to reassure him he was safe and that she was there with him. She didn't appear to have heard him knock or come in.

The Captain hated to disturb his old friend in this moment, but he needed to speak with her, so he knocked on the door again and cleared his throat, then as she immediately sat up upon being startled by his sudden appearance and quickly wiped away the tears that were falling down her cheeks, Chapman quietly spoke saying, "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to scare you. I wanted to see how you both were doing. I brought you some food too."

When he set the bag down on the bed beside her, she sat up again while she kept her eyes on Killian until she finally looked back at Lionel and replied, "Thank you. I… we're both about as well as expected. He's woken up a little more here and there. Killian's strong. He's going to be alright, even faster than I would be if it were me in this bed. You would be amazed by all of the things he's endured and survived. Because that's what he is, a survivor. Did you talk with the doctors?"

"I spoke a little with them about his injuries, though I promise I didn't ask for any details that are personal between the two of you," he answered while he took a seat in the chair at the opposite side of the bed. "It was simply to help gather evidence against Peters. He's going away for a long, long time, Emma. That hellhole we found them in, it looked like your husband wasn't the only person he ever tortured, or killed from there being chains on the wall. So, I had our precinct's forensic scientists look it over thoroughly and they discovered a lot of blood that he had tried to clean up with bleach. The blood matched a number of missing persons, all of whom were either criminals who got off on technicalities, or convicts released from prison early on parole. Your witnesses also all came forward, including Jerry and Samantha Hill. Thanks to you for being willing to leave your husband's side for an hour yesterday to help us talk with them. They're going to be okay now. They'll be placed into a nice foster home and they will be able to stay together. I saw to that when I spoke with Child Protective Services. Someone there owed me a favor."

"I don't know how to thank you, for everything," Emma responded sincerely.

Lionel smiled and then replied, "You just did. The truth is, I still owe you and especially your husband. If there's anything either of you ever need, call me. Is he getting any better?"

The Savior shook her head, then answered sadly, "Not according to the doctors he's not. Not really. Even if he has been waking up a little more. He hasn't been lucid at all and from past experiences, I know he's suffering from terrible dreams. His heart is also damaged from all of the electricity Peters tortured him with. He'll be much better off if I can just get him home."

"If you would like, I can help you see to it that his doctors issue a transfer to the hospital in your hometown when your husband becomes stable enough to be moved," he responded again. "On one condition. That you promise you both will be back to visit when he's well again. I would like to meet him in person so I can thank him for saving my life."

"That would be wonderful," she replied when he slowly stood up to leave. "Thank you, Lionel. And thank Officer Conway for me as well. I know it was difficult for him to find out that his partner was a dirty cop."

Captain Chapman nodded as he answered, "Brennan fooled us all and it was a tough blow for the NYPD. Things will get better for us in no time. We're resilient. Now, eat before you pass out from hunger. I doubt your husband would approve of you starving yourself because you're worried about him."

Emma opened the bag and pulled out a sandwich made from the diner down the street from the hospital as she responded, "You're right about that. I give you my word. I'll eat, all right?"

"Okay," Lionel smugly stated. "I'll see you again soon. Good night."

"Good night," she told him in return, then he finally left the room so that she could be alone again with the man she loved.

Meanwhile, inside Killian's mind…

Emma was right about his mind becoming consumed by all he suffered at the hands of Brennan Peters, as well a number of horrors from his past. Sometimes, the memories even blended together as they had when he had awakened from his rounds of torment. It's why it was so difficult for him to distinguish from past and present even when his mind wasn't so hazy. Unfortunately, his mind was worse now than before and even upon hearing his wife's voice speaking to him through the fog, he couldn't tell if she was real or not.

 _Killian remembered back to their last night in Camelot just days before he died and his journey to the Underworld, when the bell jingled over the door to Granny's opened as Emma walked into the diner and saw him standing before her with Merlin and Nimue, the great Sorcerer's heart within his hand, then she looked at the man she loved and had destroyed with disbelief while she_ _said, "You were playing me the whole time."_

 _Dark Hook turned to her as well and then replied, "Once you lied about Excalibur, all bets were off. I knew it was just a matter of time before you tried controlling me. And now no one will ever control me again."_

 _"Go back from whence you came," he uttered to the powerful blade hanging at his side that only he now controlled while he looked down at Excalibur. "Back to stone."_

 _"I don't understand," Emma continued as she strode towards Nimue, glaring coldly at the very first Dark One in all of existence. "Why are you helping him get his revenge?"_

 _The evil being with crocodile like skin smiled as she answered quietly, "Don't be naive, Emma. Dark Ones never do anything without getting something in return."_

 _The Savior turned into Dark Swan asked her more curtly, "What do you want?"_

 _"You're a Dark One," she responded. "You know what we want. You want it too."_

 _"No," Emma stammered fearfully upon sensing for herself what Killian had planned in order to get his revenge on the real Rumplestiltskin at last, sensing his thoughts, as well as those of Nimue and the version of Rumplestiltskin within hers and Killian's minds. "You can't."_

 _Nimue adamantly replied, "Yes, we can. And we will."_

 _Emma struggled to take in the despair of their actions until she turned back to the man she loved and moved in close to him, taking the lapels of his long leather duster in her hands as she whispered, "Killian... Your revenge is not your happy ending. I am. You told me that. If you destroy this heart, you will destroy your happy ending along with it."_

 _"No, Killian Jones told you that," Hook answered her cruelly. "Your lovesick puppy dog. But that man died the moment you turned him into a Dark One."_

 _"Ooh…" he mockingly taunted when Hook stretched out his arm towards the Sorcerer and suddenly crushed Merlin's heart before him, then walked into the back room of the diner to pour the ashes left behind into a cauldron in order to create a new dark curse so they could all return back home to Storybrooke._

Only days ago…

 _All of a sudden, Killian's memories returned to minutes before he was rescued from the sadistic cop who had tortured and tormented him for days, while_ _he saw Brennan Peters glaring at him until the officer walked around the chair and suddenly gripped the poor woman he had killed roughly by her hair as he yanked her head back, except that as he did so, the detective no longer appeared as Eve Cameron, but as Emma, then Peters spoke up angrily saying, "I'm tired of listening to your arrogance and your bravado. Admit the truth about what you are, or I swear that I will kill her. Tell me you don't deserve, Emma!"_

 _"Okay, you're right!" Killian finally shouted when he heard his wife gasp and cry out to him in fear as Peters positioned the tip of his hook against her throat. "All right? Is that what you wanted to hear? I don't deserve Emma. She deserves a far better man than me. Good men who were worthy of her died and I survived. It wasn't fair. Because I was a villain in my life. My very long life. Believe me, I regret all the terrible things I've done, some more than others. For years, I hated the man I had become because I was hellbent on revenge on one man. Revenge was my obsession, but Emma saved me. And I don't mean just my life, but my heart. She made me see the error of my ways and showed me I could be the man she could fall in love with. At last, after fighting so hard to change, I became a man I could be proud of, a man I could look at in the mirror and be able to look back. That is why I fell in love with her. I have made terrible mistakes in my life, but I atoned for them. And I will keep on atoning for them for as long as I live."_

 _Officer Peters looked at Hook with astonishment as he stated, "Wow. That was better than I expected from you. You talk as though you've killed before. Have you? Are you a murderer?"_

 _Killian looked into Emma's eyes while he responded remorsefully, "Yes, I have killed. I am a murderer. And their deaths… are my biggest regrets."_

 _"Then let this innocent woman be another one of your many so-called regrets," Brennan replied cruelly when he suddenly thrust the hook into her chest to kill her, as the Savior screamed out and cried in pain upon him doing so. "Her blood is now on your hands, or hand, too."_

 _"No… Why did you have to kill her?!" Hook asked angrily. "I told you all that you wanted!"_

 _Peters answered, "Because you left me no choice. I couldn't just release her. And you need to understand there are consequences to your defiance. I did warn you."_

Sixty or so years ago…

 _His nightmare changed once more and somewhere within the Enchanted Forest, one of King George's men raised a sword to David's father who had been bound to a cart and forced to the ground, then he uttered, "_ _Time to die… drunk."_

 _However, before the soldier could kill him, he suddenly groaned when another's sword suddenly ran him through from behind him and the man fell to the ground dead, then Killian saw himself standing in the soldier's place when one of his own men said, "Captain, he's getting away!"_

 _Upon seeing another of George's men trying to run from the pirates when they appeared, the man beside their leader quickly handed Hook one of his daggers and without hesitation, the Captain suddenly propelled the blade hard through the air with a grunt until it became embedded into the runner's back, instantly killing him as well as he fell to the ground. One of the other pirates walked to the fallen man to get back the blade, while Hook turned his eyes on the bound man before him._

 _"What've we got here, then?" Hook asked as he took back his cutlass from one of his men and laid it back into its scabbard. "A pale wee man, hmm? Surrounded by the King's gold."_

 _"The winds of fortune are flying today, lads," he continued with a laugh._

 _"For both of us," the stranger still bound to his cart responded weakly. "Thank you… for saving my life."_

 _Hook walked closer while he callously spoke again saying, "Saving your life? Why would I go and do a foolish thing like that? You saw me kill the King's men."_

 _Robert shook his head as he nervously replied, "No, you don't have to worry about me. I have no love for the king. Please, cut me loose. I'll never say a word. I swear… on my son's life. I just want to get home to my family."_

 _"That is a heartfelt plea, indeed," the pirate Captain answered as he bent down above the man begging him for his life. "And you know, I actually think I might believe that. But… dead men tell no tales."_

 _It was then that Captain Hook drew his sword from its scabbard once again and all of a sudden, he thrust through Robert's chest without any hint of remorse. The old man collapsed the rest of the way to the ground, or as far as the cords binding him allowed him to fall, as he groaned and struggled to breathe through the agonizing pain. Hook did nothing but stare down at him as he died, while he coldly wiped the man's blood from his sword._

 _"Pack up the rest," the Captain ordered his men. "And when you're done, find somewhere to hide this cart… and this poor departed soul."_

In the hospital, present day…

Emma finished eating the sandwich and then stood up from the hard plastic chair to stretch her body, having been sitting for far too long now. She began to pace slowly through the room while she finally pulled out her phone to talk to her parents and her son for the first since she and Killian had left on their honeymoon. She spoke with them for a long time, about everything that's happened including all of the good before yet another villain arose. She then told them that she and Killian would be home as soon as he was able to be moved and transferred as Captain Chapman had suggested. She was saying goodbye to them when she suddenly heard the man she loved utter her name while he struggled to come out of his drug induced sleep.

The Savior immediately told her family good night, then sat down at his bedside and leaned in close as she laid one hand over the side of his face and her other hand gently over his chest above his heart. "Swan" or "Emma" weren't the only words he tried to speak, as she heard him pleading with her, or perhaps with someone else to forgive him, for whatever it was in his dreams haunting him. At long last, Killian weakly opened his eyes as she lowered her face so he would be able to see into hers.

Unfortunately, her presence appeared to agitate him even more as he struggled to break free of her grasp as though he couldn't recognize her. Emma glanced towards the door as if to make sure she and Killian were still alone, then she didn't hesitate any longer when she closed her eyes and focused on their love while her power flowed from her hand into his mind in hope to rid him of his fear. Finally, when he looked into her eyes again, Emma knew she had succeeded as a tear slipped down his cheek from the corner of his eye and he weakly spoke her name once again, then whispered two words that she knew would haunt her as his dark memories tormented him. "You're alive." The monster who had kidnapped and tortured him had somehow made her husband believe she was dead.

Killian soon fell asleep again and even though he had, Emma tenderly caressed his cheek and ran her fingers through his black hair, then she softly responded, "I am alive, Killian. And I'm here."

She leaned down to kiss his lips and then rested her head against his good shoulder as she whispered, "Just sleep. I promise you, I'm not going anywhere."


	24. Chapter 24

Of Monsters & Men

Chapter Twenty-Four

Killian continued to drift in and out of sleep over the course of the next few hours while his wife watched over him despite her own exhaustion. After Emma had used her magic to help ease his mind, his nightmares subsided with the exception of a few he couldn't shake. She was grateful that they didn't appear to affect him as badly as they had before.

 _Early the next morning, Killian dreamt again of his final moments with his father as he saw himself when he was a young boy while he laid awake that night so long ago, as the ship they were on was thrown around by the violent storm outside while out in the middle of the ocean. Killian fearfully looked around the cabin he and his brother slept in until his eyes froze upon a lantern that was lit until moments later when a gust of wind suddenly blew the lantern out, making the room pitch dark._

 _"Father, Father!" he heard himself cry out as he bolted up in bed scared._

 _"It's all right, son," the boys' father whispered when he calmly entered the room, then glanced towards his older son in the bed across from where Killian laid to see that he was thankfully still sound asleep. "I'm here."_

 _Brennan used a match to relight the lantern and then turned back to his youngest as he stated, "See? There's nothing to be afraid of."_

 _When he sat down beside Killian on his bed, the boys' father kept his eyes on the small boy, as Killian stared into his while Brennan continued, "Now… remember, whenever you feel scared, all you have to do is look inside. We're all braver than we think if we just look deep enough. Before you know it, you're gonna be a man, so I'm just trying to prepare you 'cause then you're gonna have to answer life's big question. What kind of man are you going to be?"_

 _"I want to be just like you," the boy answered with a small chuckle, after taking a few moments to think._

 _"Well, that's a nice answer, son," the older Jones responded with a sad chuckle of his own. "Now, close your eyes and find that brave part deep inside yourself, hmm? And you don't have to worry about a thing. Your father will watch the light for you. Just go to sleep, Killian. Go to sleep."_

It was then that Killian awakened again more alert than he had been the night before, and he found Emma drifting into a sleep of her own as she sat up in her chair, until she suddenly sensed his movement while she immediately leaned forward, resting her hand over his good arm not trussed up in a sling.

He looked into her eyes and then uttered quietly, "Forgive me, love. I didn't… didn't mean to wake you."

She shook her head as she replied, "You didn't wake me. I promise, I've slept more than you might think I have. I may be tired, but you're all I'm thinking about right now. Did you dream again?"

"Aye," Killian answered as he slowly turned his head away from her to avoid her gaze.

"Tell me about it?" his wife requested tenderly. "Please. Whatever dreams, or memories that have been haunting you… they'll only go away if you talk about them with someone you trust to take them from you."

He looked at her again, then weakly he responded, "All right. Though there is… isn't really much to tell about this last one. It wasn't even… all that bad. It was nothing more than a memory… a memory I wish I could simply forget. Be… being that Officer Peters' name was the same as my father's, I've dreamt of him often. How my final words to him we… were spoken out of anger, and how…"

Killian paused as he closed his eyes tightly when he felt a deep pang of regret wash over him, then finally he continued as he spoke again sadly saying, "… how my father's last moments with me… before he abandoned us, broke me enough so that I… could hate him and eventually become the man who killed him. His fin… final words to me that night were lies. My confession to Peters was another lie in an effort to save… the life of that woman I believed was you in my nightmares, but it didn't do her any good. He still murdered her. And with my h… hook. What if I was wrong? What if I really am still a mons…?"

"You are not the monster in this story, Killian," the Savior stalwartly replied in interruption as she deepened her hold on him. "You haven't been for a very long time. Don't let the real monster get inside your head. Don't doubt that you're still the man who changed and became the man I love with my whole heart. The things you've seen in your nightmares, it's all in your past. Let it stay there."

"I love you, Emma," he then whispered as Emma leaned down again to kiss him.

When she sat back, she answered, "I love you too. Which is why as soon as the doctors say that you're stable enough to be moved, I'm having an ambulance transport us both home to Storybrooke and once we are, I can use my magic to heal you. I would have the moment I found you if it weren't for me having to depend on the police force and these doctors to find and save you so we could take Officer Peters down according to the laws. Hopefully we can be home in a few days."

Killian looked at her strangely, then he shook his head the best as he could and responded, "No… this was supposed to be our honeymoon, Emma. I may… not be me dashing self for some time, but I don't want you to leave the city… that was once your home you loved so… so much unhappy. Not again. Once I'm well enough to leave this hospital, we need do the one thing you wanted to do most while we're… here."

"I only wanted to be alone with you… without a villain making an appearance to ruin our happiness," the Savior replied honestly. "And seeing as that didn't happen even after we won the final battle… Killian, I don't want you to have to suffer for weeks when I can heal you a matter of days. Our family is worried about you too, especially Henry."

"I appreciate that, Swan," her husband answered sincerely. "I really do. But there's also the matter of the Jolly Roger. If we were to… return home by ambulance as you call it, then how would our ship return to Storybrooke?"

Emma shrugged as she responded, "I hadn't even thought of that. Are you sure that I can't convince you to change your mind? I'm sure there's some magical spell that would take care of the Jolly Roger. I could just need to call Regina."

He smiled up at her and then replied quietly, "I'm afraid not. I've dealt with pain from injuries such as these time and time again. I'll be alright, love. I always am thanks to you."

"You were the one who saved me during our last adventure in New York together when you restored my memories," she replied. "It's about time I repaid you."

"You became my wife," Killian said as she smiled down at him and then kissed him on his forehead. "It's far more than I ever could have hoped for."

A few days later…

Captain Chapman returned to the hospital again to check in on his friends and to keep them apprised on their case against Officer Peters as he promised Emma he would. After only a week, there wasn't much to tell them, but all of the charges have been brought against Brennan and he had been denied bail at his first hearing.

After visiting with them for nearly an hour, Lionel finally stood up to leave again, but before he did, he turned back to Killian still lying within his bed and spoke up saying, "I'm sure that Emma has told you how grateful I am to you for saving my life, but I wanted to tell you so in person, and to simply say thank you."

Killian looked down as if embarrassed by the man's gratitude due to feeling undeserving of it, then he raised his eyes again and answered, "You have no need to thank me, Captain. I only did what I could to make sure that bastard wouldn't ever be able to hurt anyone else again. Had it been you, you would have done the same."

"I'm not so sure I would have," he responded honestly. "It takes a special kind of courage for someone to do what you did. Don't think of yourself as a man undeserving of what you've earned. Not just my gratitude, but my respect and friendship as well. And that means something."

"I'm truly honored," Hook replied in sincerity. "Thank you."

As Chapman turned back to the door to leave, Emma quickly stood up to catch him and stated, "By the way… we won't be needing that hospital transfer after all. We've decided to stay in New York long enough for Killian to walk out of here on his own. I tried to convince him otherwise, but he's a stubborn old fool when it comes to what other might think is best for him."

Lionel scoffed as he looked back towards Killian again, then answered, "I don't doubt that. Goodbye. Hopefully you'll come to visit me when you do get out of here. Get better soon."

"He will," Emma steadfastly responded. "I'll make sure of it."

Several more weeks passed and Killian was finally released from the hospital, as he walked out on his own two feet. The doctors objected however, on account of his heart still being severely weakened, but Emma assured them she would make sure her husband took it easy so long as his body continued to heal. Killian had grown restless lying in bed with his arm trussed up and his only hand bound, while his left arm laid limply at his side. Though his body still ached, he could finally move more easily and his doctors gave in to their patient's request to be released.

Upon leaving, Emma hailed a cab for them so she and Killian could take it to the precinct to say goodbye to their friend, Captain Lionel Chapman, and then returned to the Jolly Roger in the harbor. When they were finally alone and free for Emma to use her magic, she carefully helped her husband to sit on their bed, pulled off the sling that he wore over his arm to protect his shoulder from moving around too much, then undid the straps of the brace over his hand to keep it from moving. Finally, the Savior slowly waved her hand over his body and used her magic to heal him. And just to make sure he was truly alright, Emma laid her hand on his chest over Killian's heart, then elicited her power into him to repair any of the electricity's damages that might have remained behind.

"How do you feel?" she then asked him softly.

Killian leaned forward to kiss her tenderly while he used his hand that was now good again to caress her cheek, then when he pulled his head back, he looked deeply into his wife's eyes and whispered, "Like a new man. Although, I'm not exactly back to my old self yet, am I?"

She quickly walked over to the table where his hook and brace for it laid, then moved back to the man she loved to place them back over his left arm where they belonged as she replied, "You will be, now that you're healed and we're both safe again. I know this piece of metal has been used to hurt many people in your lifetime, Killian, but it doesn't define who you are anymore. Because I know the man you really are beneath all of your pain and the contempt you continue to hold against yourself, especially when these monsters arise to remind you of who you used to be, to try to destroy you. I promise you, I won't let that happen. No matter what comes our way, I'll always be here to save you and to remind you of the man I see you as. The man I am so truly, madly, deeply in love with."

"As I am in love with you," her husband answered and then wrapped his arms around her again to kiss her.

"Where would you like to go?" he then asked again as he led her back out onto the ship's deck towards the wheel. "Anywhere you want, just name it. Shall we see the rest of the world together, or perhaps travel beyond this realm to see what's out there?"

The Savior laughed and then she responded, "Actually… I think we're needed back at home. I would love nothing more than to disappear with you, but we have family and friends back in Storybrooke waiting for us. Not to mention our jobs. We've already been gone longer than we said we'd be."

Killian nodded as he replied, "Aye, love. Of course, you're right. So, home then?"

"I think so," she answered sadly. "I've had enough of New York City to last a lifetime even though there are some happy memories here, but very few of them include you. Just because we're going home, doesn't mean we can't continue with our honeymoon right here aboard your beautiful boat."

"I believe I've made this clear," he responded as she winked. "She's a ship and she's ours now. One day, she'll belong to your son and perhaps even our future children should we be fortunate enough to have them. As for your suggestion of making our voyage home our real honeymoon, it's a glorious one indeed."

Emma smiled, then she asked, "Who's to say we can't take our time getting back? I'm ready for another swashbuckling adventure, so long as it's with you."

Killian laughed and then he smugly replied, "I always knew there was a little pirate in you, Swan. On to Storybrooke then. And we'll take the long way around. No monsters or demons will ever bar our way again."

The End


	25. Thank You

Thank you to all of those who have read and have written reviews for our story! They are much appreciated. We're honored to have you all for fans and we hope to hear from you all again in the future, should you choose to read and enjoy more of our work. Best of wishes to you all!

Sincerely,

Genevieve Kelly


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